Recent Important IPR Judgments

(Also see the article on The Importance of IPR in the Business World)

·         Yahoo Inc. v. The Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs, & rediff.com india ltd.

Original Appeal No.: OA/22/2010/PT/CH/9507

Yahoo! logo

An invention 'Buck' which an be used to refine searches on the internet was denied patent because of section 3 (k) of Patent Act which states that business methods are not patentable. The specifications given in the application described its economic significance in e-commerce and therefore it was considered as a business method. Secondly, Rediff had used abovesaid method but Controller held that use of invention on internet amounts to public knowledge & prior use. The case was dismissed.

·         UMG Recordings In. MGB NA LLC LLC MBG UK v. Shelter Capital Partners LLC LP LLC

U.S. 9^th Circuit

Veoh had a network on which videos can be shared. They had taken precautions against copyright infringement. To upload one had to register and accept to abide with terms of PTC agreement and agree not to upload videos that infringe copyright. Over 60,000 videos including some of UMG's had been removed. On receiving notices the videos were removed immediately. However, in 2007 UMG filed a case against Veoh for facilitating infringement. (Also see the Napster case)

 Held: Merely hosting a category of copyrightable content, such as music videos, with the general knowledge that it can be used for infringement is insufficient to meet requirements of 'abetting infringement'

·         L'oreal v. Dushyant Shah

L'oreal paris trademark with
Scarlett Johansson in background

CS (OS) 600 OF 2007,  Delhi High Court

Section 134 (2) was given wider scope so that 'carries on business' refers to even a subsidiary office of the plaintiff that carries on business unlike the construction of 'carries on business' in Section 20 of CPC. Plaintiff's 'L'OREAL' trademark was held to be structurally and phonetically similar to 'TORREAL'/'INSTITUTE TORREAL' which is proposed to be used on similar products. Therefore, Defendant restrained from using similar marks with no order as to costs

·         St.Stephen's College v. St. Stephen's College Alumni Association & Ors.

CS(OS) 2364/2011, Delhi High Court

Former students of St. Stephen's college exercised fundamental right Art. 19(1)(c)i.e. freedom to form association and started 'St. Stephen's College Alumni Association'. Plaintiff claims it to e passing off since it is not an official or college approved association. The Defendants were restrained from using the official crest on their website, using the domain name 'http://ststephensalumni.Companyin.' and using the name 'St. Stephen's College Alumni Association'. They are entitled to use the name 'association of old Stephens' provided they display a disclaimer that it is not official/approved/recognized association of the college.



Labels: infringement, IPR, Jan 2012, l'oreal torreal trademark, latest Indian Intellectual Property Cases, rediff, st. stephen's college alumni website case, UMG Recordings, yahoo patent buck patentable,