TRADEMARK
NEW ZEALAND REJECTS INDIA CERTIFICATION OF TRADEMARK APPLICATION FOR BASMATI RICE
'BASMATI' signifies a fragrant long-grain rice variety traditionally cultivated in the Indian subcontinent. The Government of India filed a trademark application for Basmati rice in the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand ('IPONZ') to preserve its cultural and traditional significance. IPONZ concluded in the evidence produced by the Indian Government that other rice-producing countries including Pakistan play a significant role in the market of Basmati rice.
Thus, the IPONZ refused the application citing that fragrant rice is also grown internationally and the growers have a legitimate right to use the term 'BASMATI'.
(1) https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f905f9a8-4671-4d3a-b9e5-0a75dd9fce36
TRADEMARK
STARBUCKS SUES MARIJUANA RETAILER OVER TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
Recently, the global coffeehouse chain Starbucks (hereinafter
referred to "Complainant") initiated a trademark suit
against a marijuana retailer operating under the name
"Starbuds Flowers". The lawsuit has been filed in the US
District Court with the Plaintiff alleging that Starbud's logo
is "confusingly similar and nearly identical" to its
iconic green siren emblem. The Complainant states that
Starbud's use of a double-ringed green circle, capital letters
and a siren image, along with a phonetically similar name, is an
attempt to imitate the Starbucks brand. The Complainant contends
that Starbuds "clearly trades on the recognition of the
extensive consumer recognition of Starbucks," according to the
filing.
Further, the Complainant learned about Starbuds in March'23 and
sent a cease-and-desist notice to the company. It also issued a
takedown notice under the Digital Millennium and Copyright Act to
Starbud's website in January 2024. However, all attempts failed
leading the Complainant to file the instant trademark infringement
suit.
Reference:
(1) https://www.retail-insight-network.com/news/starbucks-starbuds-trademark-infringement/
PATENT
INDIAN PATENT OFFICE REJECTS JOHNSON AND JOHNSON'S PATENT APPLICATION AS REPORTED IN TIMES OF INDIA ON 6TH JULY 2024
In 2017, US major Johnson & Johnson ('J&J') had
filed a patent application for the pediatric formulation of
Bedaquiline. Bedaquiline treats multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) in
patients who have failed to respond to initial Tuberculosis
('TB') medications and require higher-level treatment. A
civil society group, The Delhi Network of Positive People, and a
Mumbai-based TB survivor Ganesh Acharya filed a 'pre-grant
opposition' against the patent application. One of the grounds
of opposition was 'lack of inventive step' as at least
seven things about this formulation were already known before the
patent application was filed. The Controller allowed the aforesaid
ground and stated that the present invention is obvious to a person
skilled in this art. The second accepted ground was the lack of any
synergistic effect in the drug claimed in the patent application.
The effect of the drug as a whole was merely the sum of its
ingredients when put together. Hence, the patent application was
rejected.
This decision is a significant victory for children suffering from
TB, as more affordable versions of TB drugs will be soon available
in the country.
Reference:
COPYRIGHT
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL SUES PRESS TRUST INDIA FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
In an interesting news, Asian News International (ANI) has filed
a copyright infringement and plagiarism case against Press Trust
India (PTI) pertaining to the videos of a Delhi-Darbhanga Spice jet
flight's air conditioner breakdown. In its complaint, ANI
alleges that its video journalist had captured footage inside the
flight and posted it on its X account. Soon after, PTI also
published identical videos.ANI urged that PTI must remove the
videos, acknowledge ANI's ownership, issue an apology, and
notify all newspapers that incorrectly credited PTI for the
content. Contrarily, PTI argued that no apology was required and
that the video was third-party content.
In the instant case, ANI has demanded damages of 2 crore and a
permanent injunction preventing PTI from copying its original
work.
COPYRIGHT
TRUMP SNEAKER KNOCKOFFS INITIATE LAWSUIT IN FEDERAL COURT OVER COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
In February, Donald Trump launched Trump Sneakers line under
45Footwear LLC (hereinafter "Company"). Recently, the
Company initiated a lawsuit in the Federal Court in Arizona
alleging the sale and promotion of counterfeit shoes by various
individuals and business entities. The defendants are unnamed, the
Company states that they will be identified in a forthcoming sealed
document. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants are
individuals,
unincorporated business associations, and business entities
primarily located outside the U.S., operating through commercial
websites hosted domestically.
The Company pled before the Court to ban any illicit reproduction
along with prohibition on advertising or selling counterfeit
sneakers. Further, the Company sought the Defendants to pay them
"any and all profits" related to the infringement of
trademark law or for the court to award $2 million for "each
and every use" of the mark counterfeited by each defendant and
$25,000 for each copyright violation.
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