Misleading Advertisements and Trademarks – A Registration Conundrum
K&S Partners and The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) have recently released the report "Misleading ads and trademarks - a registration conundrum" which investigates how brands use misleading claims as trademarks and deceive consumers.
Consider a case where a descriptive trademark like ‘ALL WOOL’ has been...
Ipso facto words – India needs to simplify the ‘language of the law’
To non-lawyers “motion” means “movement or process of moving”; to us it means “application to a court”. To non-lawyers “said” means the past and past participle of “say”; it is an adjective for us – for example, the “said” building.
A genteel old lady who met me for some legal advice asked why we lawyers write in a strange way....
For India and other countries, an IP waiver is a distraction
For India and other countries, an IP waiver is a distraction not a solution to the covid-19 vaccine crisis
Drawn-out discussions about a covid-related TRIPs suspension will not help the huge numbers of people in India and elsewhere waiting for vaccines, argue Deepa Tiku and Jyoti Sagar of K&S PartnersAs the world wades...
Drawing a parallel between aesthetics and functionality for design protection
Like many counties in the world, India has a strong law for protecting aesthetic creations by way of design registration. The design law protects aesthetic creations and not the functionality.
Drawing a parallel between aesthetics and functionality for design protectionLike many counties in the world, India has a strong law for...
How does India fit into your Global IP Strategy? – IP Counsel Cafe Feature
EPISODE 15: India in Your Global IP Strategy
How does India fit into your Global IP Strategy? How is the business landscape changing and how is India’s IP system responding? Why are companies setting up shop in India? Sandy Chan speaks with Srihari SK, Partner at the Indian law firm, K&S...
Date of design registration: Understanding versus reality – Asia IP Law Feature
James Anderson, in his novel called The Never-Open Desert Diner, said that “Sometimes the smallest things are so damn unforgivable. Maybe because they aren't small—they only seem that way to someone else. You never know what someone holds scared until it's too late.”
This quote is aptly justified in the verdict delivered by...
Language and Law: The Incomprehensible Lawyer – Part I
Language is the most significant medium of communication. Other than “sign” language and “body” language, “language” is made of “words” that are used for oral and written communication. The main purpose of communication is to convey information and ideas.
As lawyers, we spend a large part of our time crafting, articulating, and...
For plain English, not gobbledygook – Commentary
he Supreme Court of India has referred a judgment of the Himachal Pradesh High Court back to the court on the ground that it is incomprehensible.
In support of this description, Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah quoted three paragraphs from the high court judgment. A painstaking reading of the quoted text reveals letters of...
Language and Law: The Incomprehensible Lawyer – Part 2
The first part of this article described the peculiarities of the language of the law. In this concluding part, we cover the fascinating history of the lawyers’ language, why the legal profession persists with its language even though the English language for the rest of the world has changed from the middle ages and evolved, and the green shoots of...
Indian fashion industry waking up to Intellectual Property protection
The luxury fashion brand Burberry recently burnt its unsold and unwanted stock worth £28 million ($36.68 million) to protect intellectual property
Luxury fashion brand, Burberry raised many eyebrows when it burnt unsold and unwanted stock worth £28 million ($36.68 million) in the past year. The company took this step to protect...