sLALL & SETHI

China’s stained Trips record
October 21, 2007: The Financial Express

After giving China a number of warnings for violating intellectual property rights (IPR), the US has finally asked the dispute settlement body (DSB) of the WTO to take action against China for infringing the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) Agreement. The WTO panel will formally investigate US complaints that China has failed to adequately protect IPR on goods such as software and movies, a move criticised by Beijing. WTO’s DSB established a panel following Washington’s second request to look into its allegations against China.  more...
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Domain Names

Domain names in Indian languages soon
October 22, 2007: Economic Times

India is all set to join the global bandwagon of local language domain names. Soon you will be able to own domain names in Hindi, Tamil, Sanskrit, Bengali, Punjabi and some other Indian languages.  For trademark owners, the initial registration (called the sunrise period) is expected to open in January 2008. Registration for individual owners, that is, land rush, will begin around March, 2008.  Called IDNs (Internationalised Domain Names), these are popular in Europe (Russia, Germany) and Asia (Singapore , China, Japan, Korea). In some of these countries, IDNs registrations per month surpass those in English.  more...
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Copyright

Media to issue guidelines on blocking copyrighted video
October 19, 2007: Economic Times

LOS ANGELES: A coalition of major media and Internet companies have issued a set of guidelines for handling copyright-protected videos on large user-generated sites such as MySpace. Conspicuously absent was Google Inc, whose YouTube Web site this week rolled out its own technology to filter copyrighted videos once they've been posted. Media companies Walt Disney Co, Viacom Inc, CBS Corp, NBC Universal and News Corp joined Internet companies Microsoft Corp, MySpace, Veoh Networks and Dailymotion to issue the guidelines, which would require sites to use filtering technology to block copyrighted clips from being posted without permission. The incentive for the coalition's Web sites and others to comply is the media companies' promise not to sue if any copyrighted material sneaks past their best efforts to block it.  more...
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Anti Piracy

YouTube launches long-awaited video piracy blocker
October 16, 2007: Times of India

YouTube has put in place software to block the posting of pirated videos and appease content owners that accuse the popular website of being a willing accomplice to copyright abuses. YouTube Video Identification is billed as an anti-piracy platform custom built with the help of Google, which bought YouTube last year in a USD 1.65 billion stock deal. Since the purchase, Google has been under fire from video owners including entertainment giant Viacom and the English soccer league for not doing more to stop users from posting copyrighted clips at the website. YouTube maintains it is adhering to US law by taking down copyrighted material when owners complain but has been under pressure to more vigilantly thwart the transgressions. New York City-based Viacom has a pending billion-dollar lawsuit against YouTube for not blocking pirated videos from the website.  more...
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Trademarks

Wipro gets injunction against Oushada Chandrika
October 12, 2007: Business Standard

Wipro has secured an interim injunction from the Madras High Court against the Kerala-based Oushadha Chandrika Ayurvedics India, which was manufacturing toilet soaps under the trademark Oushadha Chandrika. Wipro claims to have bought the trademark Chandrika from the Chandrika family in 2004 through its subsidiary Wipro Chandrika (WCL), which is the exclusive owner of the Chandrika trademark. Wipro claimed that in July 2007, one of its sales team had found that Oushadha Chandrika Ayurvedics was manufacturing toilet soaps and marketing them under the trademark Oushadha Chandrika. Following this, Wipro filed a suit of trademark infringement before the Madras High Court.  more...
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Views on Bill to amend Trade Marks Act
October 11, 2007: Economic Times

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, examining the bill seeking amendment in the Trade Marks Act 1999, has invited views of the public on the proposed changes to be incorporated in the Act. The Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill 2007 was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 23, 2007 and was referred to the department-related parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce for examination and report. The Bill proposes to prescribe a period of 18 months for registration of trade marks under the Trade Marks Act, in line with provisions of the Madrid Protocol. It also aims to incorporate a new chapter in the Act containing provisions for accession to Madrid Protocol, including empowering the Registrar of Trade Marks to deal with international applications originating from India as well as those received from the International Bureau.  more...
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Authoritative Decision of Supreme Court of India on Domain Name Dispute

Civil v Criminal Remedies

Deadlines

Domain Registrations

Enforcement of Trade Marks

Salient Features of The Trade Marks Act, 1999

The Patents (Amendment) Bill 2005

Indian Court Grants Punitive Damage for Trade Mark Violation

Supreme Court on Injunctions

Supreme Court of India Reiterates its commitment to Protect Well-Known Foreign Brands

Landmark Supreme Court of India Decision on USE of Trade Marks

TM Act 99 - Well known Trade Marks

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Broadcast & Entertainment Sector Newsletter