HIGH COURT NOVEMBER 2024 WEEKLY ROUNDUP | Stories on OCI; Ashneer Grover’s wife; Termination of Pregnancy; Maharashtra Elections; and more
A quick legal roundup to cover important stories from all High Courts this week.
Copyright
Delhi High Court grants ex-parte ad interim injunction to Skechers South Asia Pvt. Ltd. for protection of 32-year-old Trade Mark
The infringers were restrained from using Skechers’ trade mark and artistic works or any other trade mark or artistic work identical or similar to Skechers, till the next date of hearing.
Karnataka High Court issues guidelines regarding live streaming of court proceedings
These guidelines have come in the wake of a suo motu case concerning the controversial ‘Pakistan’ and ‘undergarment’ comments made by Karnataka High Court judge, Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda.
Call for Papers: Chanakya Law Review
The CIRF-in-IPHD of Chanakya National Law University, Patna is inviting research papers for the following journals under Volume V, Issue I &
[ICC T20 World Cup 2024] Delhi High Court grants dynamic + injunction to protect broadcast rights of Star India
The Delhi High Court said that the dynamic nature of the digital landscape necessitates that court orders are not static but evolve in tandem with technological advancements and challenges posed by the virtual domain.
Delhi High Court grants injunction against rogue websites peddling false articles on Anant Ambani Interview with CNBC-TV18
The article on the websites describes a fake/made-up interview from the actual Interview of Mr. Ambani with Mr. Anand Narasimhan, a senior anchor and Managing Editor at CNN-News18 uploaded on Network 18 Media and Investments Limited, Youtube Channel.
Delhi High Court grants ‘Dynamic+ Injunction’ in favour of Universal Studios to protect its copyrighted works
The Court found it fit to grant a Dynamic+ injunction to keep up with the hydra-headed nature of the infringement actions of the websites.
[Karim’s v. Karin’s] Delhi High Court rules in favour of Karim’s trademark in infringement suit
“The Defendants have entirely imitated Plaintiff No. 1’s registered trademarks, replicating all aspects such as font of the letters, design of the logo, color scheme, size, style, and placement of letter and the taglines. Both the marks are also used for identical services.”
HIGH COURT MARCH 2024 ROUNDUP | Stories on 2006 Mumbai fake encounter; Arvind Kejriwal Arrest; W.B. Assembly Election 2021; UPSC Prelims 2024; and more
A quick legal roundup to cover important stories from all High Courts in March 2024
Delhi High Court: ‘Subscription Fee’ income not classified as ‘royalties’ or ‘included services’ under DTAA and IT Act
Delhi High Court elucidated the treatment of subscription fees vis-à-vis royalties and technical services under both the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and the Income Tax Act and clarified the distinction between income from subscription fees and payments for intellectual property rights or technical consultancy services.
‘Attempt to indulge in smart copying’; Delhi HC restrains Hermes Distillery from selling liquor under label ‘PEACE MAKER’ in suit by Allied Blenders and Distillers
“The differences showed that extraordinary effort has been put by defendant in identifying differences and the broad similarities are so obvious at the first look that the differences are nudged into oblivion.”
‘Not an original artistic work’; Delhi High Court cancels copyright registration of ‘Arras The Boss’ in a suit by perfume brand ‘Hugo Boss’
“Impugned artistic work is not an original artistic work and primarily consists of mark ‘BOSS’, which does not belong to Respondent 1 and even the colour scheme of petitioner is substantially imitated by Respondent 1, which will supplement the finding that the impugned registration is not an original work.”
Delhi HC temporarily restrains Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment Pvt Ltd. from playing copyrighted songs of Phonographic Performance Limited
“Failure to grant such injunction is bound to result in continued infringement of copyright. Accordingly, the principles of balance of convenience and irreparable loss would also justify grant of interim injunction as sought.”
Delhi HC restrains DJ Light and Sound Association Chandigarh from misinforming public that no licence required to play Phonographic Performance Limited music recordings
“It is further pointed out that, without filing any response to the present plaint, Defendant 2 is continuing to mislead the public into believing that no license is required to be obtained from the plaintiff before exploiting the recordings in which it has copyright.”
Delhi High Court restrains rogue websites from disseminating copyright content of Universal City Studios
Technology has posed a major challenge for entities like the Plaintiffs as there is a proliferation of many platforms including websites from where unauthorised, unlicensed and pirated content of the Plaintiffs can be downloaded, accessed and viewed by customers and viewers.
Bombay High Court refuses interim relief against production of Goodachari 2
“Ordinarily, once a finding is rendered that no prima facie case is made out, no discussion is warranted on the aspects of grave and irreparable loss and balance of convenience.”
Allahabad HC upholds Trial Court’s interim order restraining a manufacturer from using ‘Musa Ka Gul Super’ Trade Mark
“The dissolution of partnership is one aspect and its effect on carrying on business by making different arrangements to defeat rights of a registered trade mark owner, is altogether a different thing”
Humans of Bombay cannot claim copyright on images, photographs or videos; Delhi High Court refuses injunction against People of India
The present suit relates to the idea of a storytelling platform, there can be no monopoly over the running of such a platform. However, all such platforms that share stories about various individuals/subjects would be attaching/incorporating their own creative ways to communicate and disseminate the said stories, which constitute the expression. Such expression is protectable under Copyright law.
‘Easy for sellers to proliferate images and dupe customers’; Delhi HC grants injunction to Tibra Collection, a seller on Meesho, against its garments copyright infringement
“While E-Commerce provide new platforms for small designers and businesses, the same ought not to be misused for the purposes of imitating and producing look alike products thereby violating any intellectual property rights.”
WYNK v. TIPS Copyright Battle | “Statutory licenses under Section 31D restricted to traditional non-internet-based radio and television broadcasting and performances”; Bombay High Court affirms Single Judge order
Wynk claimed that Section 31D covers all kinds of dissemination that may be encompassed by the phrase “broadcast” or “communicating to the public”, but does not expressly say anything about the internet, does not prohibit or forbid internet-based services, radio-like or not.