In news again - Naukri.com Prevails over Naukrinews.com

Misuse of IP rights on internet has augmented in recent times and the frequency of domain name litigations being witnessed is testimony to the same. In this issue, we discuss a recent case decided by the Delhi High Court, namely, Info Edge (India) Ltd. v. Mr. Rakesh Kalia, wherein the misuse of IP rights of job portal www.naukri.com by the Defendant by coining a deceptively similar domain name, www.naukrinews.com was in issue. The case in detail has been discussed here below:

Brief Facts of the Case                                                          

In the instant case, Info Edge (India) Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Plaintiff”) had prayed to restrain Mr. Rakesh Kalia (hereinafter referred to as “Defendant”) from infringing its trademark, passing off, unfair competition and infringement of copyright.

Contentions of the Plaintiff:

The Plaintiff claims to be a leading internet company, incorporated in 1995 which operates the job portal www.naukri.com. The portal provides online recruitment classifieds and related services for job seekers and corporate customers.

• The Plaintiff claimed that over the years, the impugned portal had grown to be the country’s leading job portal having, as on June 30, 2015, a database of about 42 million job seekers.
• That the word “NAUKRI” forms the most significant and distinctive part of the Plaintiff’s subsidiary, Naukri Internet Services Private Limited, which was incorporated in the year 1999.
• That Plaintiff is also the owner of a number of domain names other than “NAUKRI.COM” which contains the word, “NAUKRI” as a prominent feature.
• That it is the registered proprietor of the word mark, “NAUKRI” in respect of computer software in classes 9 and 16.
• That it has extensively advertised its services under the mark “NAUKRI” and in the year 2014-2015, it had spent over INR14 crores / 140 Million to promote “NAUKRI.COM” website and earned revenue over INR 340 crores / 3.4 Billion.
• That by virtue of extensive use, advertisements, registrations and the quality of services rendered thereunder, the trademark and domain name “NAUKRI” / “naukri.com” had become exclusively identified with the Plaintiff.

Plaintiff’s Grievances

• That the Defendant, who is an Indian national, had registered a deceptively similar domain name www.naukrinews.com.
• The Plaintiff further alleged that the Defendant is also the Managing Director of a company named Mellcon Engineers Pvt. Ltd., which was at one time, a customer of the Plaintiff’s job portal, “NAUKRI.COM” and the said company was used by the Defendant to misuse the Plaintiff’s database to promote its own activities under the domain name, “naukrinews.com”.
• That in 2011, Plaintiff had received an e-mail from one of its customers, wherein it was stated that he had registered himself with “NAUKRI.COM”, but he had been receiving emails from other consultancies for the same profiles, which were on the Plaintiff’s website.
• On learning this, the Plaintiff immediately wrote an e-mail to the Defendant and called upon him to cease and desist from sending such e-mails to job seekers, who were registered with “NAUKRI.COM”. However, the Defendant refused to make such compliances.
• That the Plaintiff has been receiving several complaints from its clients with regard to the Defendant’s attempt to use their job profiles on his job portal, www.naukrinews.com  without their consent.
• That in view of rising complaints, the Plaintiff was compelled to take legal action against the Defendant and hence instituted the present suit.
• The Plaintiff has alleged that the Defendant’s companies register themselves as prospective employers on the Plaintiff’s website “NAUKRI.COM” under different names and thereby access its database. Thereafter, they use the said database to bombard the customers of “NAUKRI.COM” with spam e-mails from domain names like, naukrinews.com that are similar to “NAUKRI.COM” and the unsuspecting customers pay up for the said services to the point that sometimes, they have been told that the job portal, naukrinews.com is a sister concern of the Plaintiff.

The Defendant did not appear in the case.

Court’s holding in the case:

The Delhi High Court, in view of the submissions and averments made in the plaint alongwith the evidence placed on record, prima facie found that the Plaintiff was entitled to grant of an ex parte ad interim injunction.

Thus the Court, till the next date of hearing, restrained the Defendant from using the marks NAUKRINEWS.COM, NAUKRINEWS.CO.IN, NAUKRINEWS.IN or any other mark comprising of the word, “NAUKRI” that is likely to deceive the public into believing that the Defendant’s services are in some manner connected with the Plaintiff’s registered trademark “NAUKRI” and/or job portal.

Concluding Remarks

Misuse of IP rights over the internet is highly vulnerable owing to the ease of access it offers. The facts of the instant case showcase a situation wherein the trademark of right holder has been allegedly misused and encashed upon by the Defendant for its services.

(*‘Naukri’, a Hindi word, translated in English means Job)

IP4kids - The CSR Initiative of S.S. Rana & Co. participates at the Innovation Festival 2016

New Delhi                                                                                           January 21-24, 2016

The National Science Centre (NSC), Delhi recently organized the Innovation Festival 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from January 21- 24. The event was inaugurated on January 21 by Professor Samir K. Brahmachari, an Indian biophysicist and Former Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research and Former Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India.

The event was aimed to foster a passion and aptitude for science and technology and to provide a unique platform to creative innovators. The Festival comprised of an Innovation Fair providing people with an opportunity to showcase the most innovative products made by them in the past. Hobbyist, enthusiasts, students, amateurs as well as professionals of all ages and gender participated in the Festival. The festival also organized mini parallel events such as, Build from Scrap, Robofest, Creative Robo Design, Robo Training cum Contest, Innovative Challenge, Stage Blast, Family Science Quiz, Popular Science lectures, Idea Contest and a Hands-on Minds-on Session. About 45 people had applied for participation in the Innovation Fair, of which only 22 participants were shortlisted.

S.S. Rana & Co. also participated in the Innovation Festival through its CSR initiative “IP4kids”(www.ip4kids.in), a sensitization program to spread awareness about Intellectual Property Rights among the young generations. In this sensitization program, the firm’s IP4kids team interacted with kids, teachers, and young and grassroots innovators. IP4kids also received support from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in the form of its publications for distribution at the fair which was received widely by the young innovators. As part of the initiative, our firm has pledged pro-bono support to all the young innovators. Awareness on the National Innovation Foundation was also spread by our firm’s IP4kids team.

Around 400 people visited the stall put up by our firm and a special session was organized by the NSC where IP volunteers from our IP4kids team contributed and delivered a presentation on Patents and their importance globally. A very interactive and positive response was received from all the participants and the visitors.

The Festival concluded with the awards distribution session by Dr. Vijay J. Sharma and other notable doctors. Awards were presented for categories including best innovation skill awards, best technical innovation award, etc. Our firm received appreciation for coming up with an IP awareness initiative and for helping grassroots innovators and students to realize their IP rights.

Entries  invited for National Intellectual Property Awards, 2016

The Indian Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has been since 2009, celebrating the World IP Day by hosting National Intellectual Property Awards. These awards accord recognition and reward organisations as well as individuals for their contribution in harnessing the country’s intellectual capital and creating an eco-system that boosts creativity and innovation. Continuing the trend of felicitating the achievements in intellectual property, on January 15, the Intellectual Property Office announced the opening of the 7th National Intellectual Property Awards for the year 2016 on their website by inviting applications for the same.

The IPO has listed ten categories of awards each of which will be presented with a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000/- and a citation. However, the awardees of the National Intellectual Property Awards 2014 and 2015 will not eligible this year. The categories are:

• Top Indian Academic Institution for Patents;
• Top R & D institution/organisation for Patents; 
• Top Indian Public or Private Limited Company or Indian subsidiary of a Transnational Corporation for Patents; 
• Top Indian Private Company (MSME) for Patents; 
• Best Commercialisation of Patentbased product or processin India; 
• Top Individual for Patents; 
• Top Organization for Trade Marks; 
• Top Organization for Designs; and 
• Top individual for Designs 
• Best facilitation of Registration of GI and Promotion of registered GI in India. (This category was added vide a separate notification dated March 02, 2015). 

The National Awards will be linked with the three prestigious awards bestowed by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), namely, ‘WIPO Medal for Inventors’, ‘WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy’ and WIPO Users’ Trophy. The above mentioned awards will be accorded to the winners of the following categories:

• WIPO Medal for Inventors is to be given to the ‘Top Individual for Patent’; 
• WIPO IP Enterprises Trophy to the ‘Top Indian Public Limited Company / Private Limited Company / Indiansubsidiary of a transnational corporation in Patent’; and 
• WIPO Users’ Trophy to the ‘Best Commercialisation of Patent based product or process in India’.  

This year, in addition to the earlier listed broad parameters for selection, i.e.

• Number of IPRs granted / registered; 
• Growth in IPR portfolio in the last five years; 
• Leveraging of IPRs for achieving commercial goals (valuation, licensing, launching of new products/ processes associated with granted/registered IPRs); 
• Efforts for inculcating IPR culture (R&D budget, employment of human resources for R&D, collaborations with industries and universities, licensing from other sources etc.) and 
• Contribution towards humanity and socio-economic development of the country.
  
  The IPO has added another parameter for selection i.e.
• Commercial benefits derived from IP generated like no. of beneficiaries, economic significance, market share increase, cost effectiveness. 

Further, this year addition has also been made by the IPO in the Eligibility criteria wherein it has been decided that an organization applying for award under the category of MSME, “Top Indian Private Company (MSME) for Patents”, should be a standalone enterprise and it should state the details of patent applications filed / granted in its own name only. Any details in respect of applications filed/patents granted belonging to a subsidiary company or the company under which it is a subsidiary company or a group of companies, where the applicant is a part of the said group of companies, shall not be taken into consideration.

The intention behind organising these awards is to encourage the innovation and management of intellectual property portfolio in such a manner that it influences the success of a business, whether large or small, in different industry segments.

DEADLINE

The last date for submission of hard copy of the application form(s): February 25, 2016 

The last date for submission of soft copy of the application form(s): March 02, 2016 

Source:http://ipindia.nic.in/

Government of India launches “Scheme of Facilitating Start-Ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP)”

The Government of India has launched the Scheme of Facilitating Start-Ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) on January 18, 2016 to facilitate the protection of Patents, Trade Marks and Designs of innovative and interested Start Ups.

The idea is to promote the Intellectual Property Rights of Start-Ups and thus encourage innovation and creativity amongst them.

The scheme is inclined to assist Start-Ups in protecting and commercializing their intellectual property by providing them access to high-quality IP services and resources.

Who Can Apply?

• Any Start-Up which has obtained certification by the Start-up Certification Board (mandatory) as having an innovative business;
• Start-up means an entity, incorporated or registered in India not prior to 5 years;
• Having an annual turnover not exceeding INR 25 Crores / 250 Million (USD 3,700,965* Approx.) in any preceding financial year;
• Working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property;
• Such entity should not be formed by splitting up, or reconstruction, of a business already in existence;

An entity shall cease to be a Start-up if its turnover for the previous financial years has exceeded INR 25 Crores / 250 Million (USD 3,700,965* Approx.) or it has completed 5 years from the date of incorporation/ registration.

Facilitators

Facilitators are also being appointed to be empaneled by the Controller General of Patent, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) for the effective implementation of the scheme. The conduct and functions of the facilitators shall be regulated by the CGPDTM and in case of any complaint by a Start-Up, the CGPDTM can remove the facilitator from the panel.

The following persons can be a Facilitator:

• Any Patent Agent registered with the CGPDTM.
• Any Trademark Agent registered with the CGPDTM.
• Any Advocate as defined under The Advocates Act, 1961 who is entitled to practice law as per the rules laid down by the Bar Council of India from time to time, who is well-versed with the provisions of the relevant Acts and Rules, and is actively involved in filing and disposal of applications for patents, trademarks and designs.
• Government departments/ organizations/ agencies like TIFAC, NRDC, BIRAC, DEITY, DSIR etc.

Functions of Facilitator

The Facilitators will be responsible for, inter alia, the following functions:

1.     Providing pro bono general advisory on different intellectual property rights to Start-Ups;

2.   Providing information on protecting and promoting IPRs to Start-Ups in other countries on pro bono  basis;

3.   Assisting in filing and disposal of the IP applications related to patents, trademarks and Design at the national IP offices under the CGPDTM;

4.     Drafting complete/ provisional specifications for inventions of Start-Ups;

5.   Preparing and filing responses to examination reports and other queries, notices or letters by the IP office,

6.     Appearing on behalf of start-ups at hearings as may be scheduled;

7.     Contesting opposition, if any, by other parties, and

8.     Ensuring final disposal of the IPR application.

Fee Structure of Empanelled Facilitators:

The following fee structure will be applicable to the empanelled facilitators, for any number of patents, trademarks or designs that may be applied for by a Start-Up. If any application is withdrawn or abandoned before disposal of application, facilitator shall be entitled to fees only for filing of application and not for disposal of application.

  

Statutory Fees/ Official Fees

The statutory fees / official fees payable for each patent, trademark or design applied for in India or abroad by a Start-Up under this scheme is to be borne by the Start-Up itself.

Period of Scheme

The scheme shall be run initially on a pilot basis, applicable for 1 (one) year from the date of launch of Start-Up India i.e. January 16, 2016. This scheme shall in no way transfer, either wholly or partially, ownership rights on the IPR created by the Start-Ups to the facilitator or the Government, and the Start-Up shall have full rights on the IP generated.

The Scheme, as launched by the Government of India, can be accessed here.

*@ 1 USD=67.58 INR

India: My Name is Khan ! Actor Salman Khan served notice by Khan Market Traderr’s Association, New Delhi.

As reported by the Times of India, an Indian daily, the Khan Market Traders’ Association in New Delhi has sent a legal notice to renowned Bollywood actor, Salman Khan, on January 15, 2016 asking him to withdraw the name Khan Market from his e-commerce portal www.khanmarketonline.com, and to stop the unauthorized use of the trade name ‘Khan Market’.

The shopping web portal ‘www.khanmarketonline.com’ was launched by Salman Khan on his 50th birthday on December 27, 2015. The domain name was registered on December 16, 2015 (privacy protected).

According to the President of the Association, Mr. Sanjiv Mehra, online retail is eating into the offline retail market, and the e-commerce website launched by Salman Khan will affect traders in Khan Market as people will perceive that it is the Khan Market traders who are selling their things online. He further stated that there is no other Khan Market anywhere in India, and this market has a brand name across Asia which the said e-commerce portal is trying to capitalize on.

Grounds taken in the notice, as reported:

• The web portal is misusing the name Khan Market and hence amounts to passing off its goods as the goods belonging to the traders of the market.
• The things sold on the website www.khanmarketonline.com would be construed as sold by traders of the actual and physical Khan Market in New Delhi.
• The portal ‘khanmarketonline.com’ may not only be construed as “deceptive and misleading” for traders but may also affect consumers of the brand name of the upscale market.

Trademark Applications:

Meanwhile, our research revealed that Salman Khan has also filed the following applications for registration of the trade mark/K KHAN MARKET ONLINE, as recently as December 24, 2015:

  

The legal notice reportedly stipulates a period of seven (7) days within which the impugned named is to be withdrawn. According to Mr. Sanjiv Mehra, if such withdrawal does not happen or any favourable response is not received within the stipulated 7 days, a legal action will be initiated. Whether or not the matter is taken further to court, shall surely be kept on watch with bated breath.

India: SSRANA’s Fahimuddin the Man of the Series at the Specially Challenged Cricket League (SCCL 2016)

Mumbai                                                                                      January, 2016

The sixth season of the Specially Challenged Cricket League (SCCL 2016) was recently organized by the Jeevan Pradan Charitable Trust in Mumbai. This league match was played between 24 teams from all over India.

The Jeevan Pradan Charitable Trust was established in 2010 with the aim to serve the underprivileged in education, medical facilities, sports etc. The Trust plays an important role in the upliftment of the underprivileged and specially challenged people by providing support from their parents, teachers and other volunteers working for the cause.

The said Trust had started the Cricket League for Deaf and Mute persons in the year 2011to provide them with a platform to develop their skills and promote deaf player globally.

We feel proud to announce that our hearing and speech impaired employee, Mr. Fahimuddin, played a magical spell and finished as the Man of the Series in the SCCL 2016.

Mr. Fahimuddin has been working with our firm for over 2 years and is a member of our firm’s cricket team in corporate matches, in furtherance to our firm’s Equal Opportunity Policy
  

 

India: Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, 2016 !

Mumbai                                                                                                    January 17, 2016

Vikrant Rana, Managing Partner of S.S. Rana & Co., inspiring us all, runs in the Mumbai Marathon, 2016 !

The renowned Mumbai Marathon, organized by Standard Chartered bank, took place at Mumbai on January 17, 2016.

The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is Asia’s richest marathon with a prize money of $3,77,000. More than 40,000 runners from different corners of the world reportedly participate in the Mumbai Marathon each year. This year, the Marathon saw the presence of many Bollywood celebrities on the road. Promoting the need to stay healthy and fit, celebrities promoted the Marathon with many national and international athletes joining the initiative.

The Marathon saw a new record of 2:15:48 hours by an Indian, Mr. Nitendra Singh Rawat, who had also won the 2015 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in November last year (where S.S. Rana & Co. had also participated). With his impressive performance, Mr. Rawat finished 10th in overall men’s 42.195 km marathon.

The cut-off mark to qualify for the Marathon in the Olympics is 2:19:00 hours for men.

Meanwhile, Ms. Sudha Singh, who came third in the 2015 edition of the Mumbai Marathon with a timing of 2:42:11 hours, made it to the top spot among Indian women this year with a better timing of 2:39:28 hours. She finished seventh overall.

Mr. Vikrant Rana, our Managing Partner, also participated in the event and successfully completed the half marathon.

Mr. Vikrant Rana, at the Mumbai Marathon, 2016

DIPP replies to Delhi High Court on E-commerce Model vis-à-vis India’s FDI Policy

As reported by The Economic Times, an Indian daily, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which is responsible for the formulation and implementation of foreign investment in India, has told the Delhi High Court that the marketplace model used by e-commerce websites is “not recognized” in the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy.

The DIPP reportedly told the Delhi High Court that FDI is a capital account transaction and thus any violation of FDI regulations are covered by penal provisions of FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act).

The current regulatory status of Consolidated FDI Policy 2015 with respect to foreign investments in the e-commerce space is as under:  

• 100% FDI is allowed under the automatic route in companies engaged in B2B e-commerce.
• NNo FDI is allowed in companies which engage in single brand retail trading by means of e-commerce.
• No FDI is allowed in companies which engage in multi brand retail trading by means of e-commerce. These restrictions are related to sale of goods and not services.
  
          

The above statements made by the DIPP is a reply in furtherance to the writ petitions filed by the Retailers Association of India and the All India Footwear Manufacturers & Retailers Association in May and June, 2015 i.e. W.P.(C) 5034/2015 and W.P.(C) NO. 7479/2015 respectively, against the Union of India in the Delhi High Court alleging the circumstances of eluding FDI norms by e-commerce companies. Vide its order dated May 20, 2015, the Delhi High Court had disposed off the writ petition W.P.(C) 5034/2015 with a direction to the Respondents to consider the writ petition as a representation and deliberate upon the same with due expedition.

The said order dated May 20, 2015 can be accessed here. Meanwhile, the writ petition W.P.(C) NO. 7479/2015, besides being addressed to the DIPP, was also addressed to the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Enforcement Directorate. On further enquiry on whether sales by e-commerce entities through the medium of internet are being taxed by the Government as retail sales, the senior counsel for the petitioners informed that the Union of India (UOI) and other State Governments have been treating such sales as sales by retailers and have raised tax on them which are however under challenge under different fora / courts, and further, as far as the Supreme Court of United States is concerned, it has held such transactions taxable as a retail sale. The Delhi High Court observed in its order dated September 23, 2015 that prima facie, it appeared that the UOI / State Governments cannot, on the one hand, for the purpose of tax, treat such sales as retail and on the other hand, for the purposes of investment, not treat the same as retail sale. The case is listed for further hearing on February 26, 2016.

The Delhi High Court has already ordered the Enforcement Directorate to investigate whether ecommerce companies have flouted FDI rules.

Meanwhile, the DIPP has pointed out in its reply to the Court that “The petitioners have failed to show that the FDI policy is arbitrary, mala fide or ultra vires of the constitution,” and has asked why the ecommerce companies haven’t been made parties to the ongoing case as any decision in the present writ is bound to have an adverse impact on them.

With the growth of the internet and app based smartphone technology, there has been a tremendous increase in e-commerce and this matter is likely to bring clarity to the issue.

Goodbye to Hellotv.in

In an award passed on January 02, 2016 in a domain recovery complaint filed by Hola, S.L. against Viraj Malik, Percept Knorigin Solutions Pvt. Ltd., before the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), the Arbitrator held that the disputed domain name (hellotv.in) is similar to the well-known trade mark “HELLO!” of the Complainant, and the same be transferred to the Complainant.

Brief Facts

The Complainant, Hola, S.L., is a company registered in Spain and a leading international publisher of magazines and periodicals. The Complainant filed a complaint with NIXI for recovery of the disputed domain name (hellotv.in) registered by the Respondent, as it incorporates the well-known and registered mark HELLO! of the Complainant. Contentions raised by the Complainant

1. The Complainant launched an offshoot of its premier magazine HOLA having a historic coverage of 71 years of its publication under the mark HELLO! in the United Kingdom in 1987.
   
   
2. The Complainant has obtained registrations of the aforesaid mark in a number of jurisdictions around the world including in India. The trade mark HELLO was registered under class 38 in India on December 08, 2003. Further the applications for the said mark alongwith the variation ‘HELLOTV!’ are pending in India in class 16 and classes 38 and 41 respectively.

3. The Complainant has registered several domain names comprising its trade mark HELLO!. The Complainant registered the domain name (hellotv.com) on December 15, 1999.
   
   
4. The Complainant’s HELLO! Magazine has print circulation of 10 lacs (1 million) copies every month.
   
   
5. The trade mark HELLO!, on account of such extensive use and circulation throughout the world including in India, is exclusively identified with the complainant and its goods and business.
   
   
6. The Respondent created the domain name (hellotv.in) in 2009, which is after the registration of the aforesaid trade mark and domain name of the Complainant.
   
   
7. The Respondent’s domain name is identical to, and fully comprises, the mark in which the Complainant has prior statutory rights. Therefore, the said registration and continuous use of the domain name (hellotv.in) dilutes the trade mark of the Complainant and also damages in its reputation.

Contentions raised by the Respondent

1. The Respondent registered the domain name (hellotv.in) on September 23, 2009.
   
   
2. The Respondent is operating the corresponding website www.hellotv.in for making entertainment accessible to everyone. The website shows various categories of videos as per viewer’s ratings and categories, additionally allowing users to create their own videos and share them through the website.

The 5th Lawyers’ Cricket World Cup bowled over by Mr. Rupin Chopra

Brisbane, Australia                                 December 28, 2015- January 11, 2016

The 5th Lawyers’ Cricket World Cup was hosted by the Australian Lawyers Cricket Council in Brisbane, Australia from December 28, 2015 to January 11, 2016. The World Cup saw participation by a total of 12 teams.

Mr. Rupin Chopra, Associate Advocate at S.S. Rana & Co., was selected to the team representing India, after a tough screening process. Leaving behind ten teams, the Indian team alongwith the team from Pakistan reached the Finals. The Finals was won by Pakistan by 3 wickets in the last over chasing 132 runs.

Mr. Rupin Chopra displayed a remarkable performance at the World Cup and took a total of 9 wickets in four matches.

The team had an incredible experience during the World Cup wherein they met and interacted with sports enthusiastic lawyers from the world over and exchanged their views and ideas on the same.  

Ms. Tulip De speaks at the Global IP Convention (GIPC), 2016

January 07 – 09, 2016

New Delhi

The 8th Global Intellectual Property Convention (GIPC) was recently organized and held at the JW Marriott, New Delhi from 07-09 January, 2016.

The Global IP Convention is an annual meeting platform for Board-level IP managers, IP regulators and policy makers, as well as IP experts, litigators, investors and their advisers from all over the world, in a dialogue designed to discuss best practices and solutions to enhance IP management strategies.

Some of the noted speakers in the Convention were Prof. Dr. Heinz Goddar, Partner, Boehmart & Boehmart and Mr. Juergen Dressel, Head Global Patent Litigation Strategy, Novartis Pharma AG, to name a few.

Ms. Tulip De, Associate Advocate at S.S. Rana & Co., spoke on the topic “Protection of Trade Dress as a Branding Tool in India” in light of relevant Indian case laws deliberating the trends in trade dress litigation in India.

MIT Technology Review and Mint launch EmTech India and Innovators 35 !

Mint, an e-newspaper in collaboration with MIT Technology Review (a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) has started an initiative ‘EmTech India’, which is an attempt to bring an intelligent conversation on cutting-edge technologies in the context of innovation, disruption and societal impact. The event is stated to take place from March 18 - March 19, 2016 at The Pullman, New Delhi Aerocity, India.

The event is designed to be a platform which will bring together business leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and change makers who will be addressing global issues and will convert ideas of innovation into an expression. The platform shall provide ideas and motivation from the most influential leaders and innovators in business and other areas who have ideas and wish to change the world with technology.

Additionally, a competition titled ‘Innovators 35’ as organized by MIT Technology Review since 1999, will also be taking place where 10 innovators under the age of 35 years from India will be selected who exemplify the spirit of innovation in business and technology. The nominations are open from October 02, 2015 to January 15, 2016. The judging and selection process is stated to take place in January and the announcement of 10 honourees will take place on January 30, 2016.

Source: http://emtech.livemint.com/

New Numbering System for Patent Applications & Examination Requests

The Office of Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) has launched a new Numbering System of Patent Applications and Requests for Examination in the Indian Patent Office on December 31, 2015. The numbering system has been launched with the objective to attain uniformity and accessibility in processing of patent applications and requests for examination.

As per the notification, the numbering system will have twelve characters fixed length numeric standard Patent Application Format and will include identifiers of year of filing, type of application and application number.

The numbering system is set to be effective from January 1, 2016 and the application numbers that have already been allotted will continue to be managed and recognized till they are fully converted into the new numbering system.

The notification detailing the new numbering format for patent applications/ request for examination can be accessed at

http://www.ipindia.nic.in/OfficeCircular/officeOrder_31December2015.pdf .