Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to release revised Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines 2011 within a month
The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) secretary revealed that the I&B Ministry will release the revised Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines 2022 within a month. The revised guidelines are set to de-regulate upliknking.
In satellite telecommunication, a downlink is the link from a satellite down to one or more ground stations or receivers, while an uplink is the link from the ground station up to a satellite.
Plagiarism allegations against Shah Rukh Khan’s starrer Jawan
A complaint has been filed with the Tamil Film Producers Council accusing the makers of the upcoming movie Jawan of plagiarism. It has been reported that the story of this movie is similar to Vijaykanth’s Perarasu which was released in 1990. The complainant has also sent a letter to South Indian Film Chamber. The executive body is expected to hold a hearing on November 09, 2022.
Copyright infringement case filed against Indian National Congress
A Bangalore based record label, MRT Music, holding rights over 20,000+ tracks in Kannada, Hindi, Telegu and Tamil etc has filed case against Indian National Congress for using their registered song during Rahul Gandhi’s campaign “Bharat Jodo Yatra”. The song used was of the movie KGF-Chapter 2.
The complaint has been filed under Sections 425, 463, 464, 465, 471, 120B r/w Section 34 of the IPC and Section 43 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and under Section 64. Copyrights Act, 1957.
Delhi High Court restrains ex-hockey coach from publishing confidential information about players in the book
The Delhi High Court restrained former Indian women’s hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne and publisher HarperCollins Publishers India Pvt Ltd. from publishing or disclosing confidential information about players in his book, Will Power: The Inside Story of the Incredible Turnaround in Indian Women’s Hockey. The Court held that Marijne has breached confidentiality clause in the Hockey India code of conduct and sanctions by seeking to publish certain confidential information in the book.
Kolkata filmmaker accuses T-Series of stealing Mister Mummy concept
Kolkata filmmaker has demanded credit for his story and alleged that TSeries has adopted his original idea for Riteish Deshmukh’s upcoming film Mister Mummy. The filmmaker claimed that his script is registered with the Screen Writers’ Association. The filmmaker has also posted screenshots of discussions with TSeries over his idea in 2020 which TSeries had apparently agreed to co-produce.
Varaham Roopam copyright infringement – another Kerala Court passes injunction against the song
After the Kozhikode District Court passing an injunction order against the Kantara movie makers in a copyright infringement suit last week, the Palakkad District Court too has passed an interim-injunction order. The said has been filed by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Company Ltd. which holds copyright over “Navarasam” song. The said song has been allegedly plagiarized as “Varaha Roopam” in the movie.
The Order of the Court dated November 02, 2022 can be accessed here.
Delhi High Court holds that a Trademark’s monetary value can be estimated from the investment made by the Proprietor in its publicity and reputation building
The Delhi High Court recently held that a trademark, apart from identifying the source of goods, also acts as an investment function. The function is to preserve the investments made by a proprietor of a trademark in publicity and building up its reputation. Therefore, it acquires a value which can be estimated in monetary terms, thereby, making the trademark a valuable asset.
The judgement of the Court dated October 27, 2022 can be accessed here.
Delhi High Court issues notice in TRAI’s Application
The Delhi High Court issued notice in TRAI’s application seeking modification in the High Court’s order of September 28, 2022. In the said order, the Court had stayed the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order directing Star, Sun, and Story Networks to provide the TRAI with information about the streaming of live linear channels by them on their OTT platforms.
Delhi High Court orders delisting of cookware being sold under the brand ‘Amul’
The Delhi High Court ordered delisting of the cookware being sold under the brand name ‘Amul’ by Maruti Metals from the e-commerce platforms in a trademark infringement suit filed by the manufacturers of popular dairy brand, AMUL. Noting that AMUL is a well-known mark, the Court further held that the existing packaging under the impugned mark to be kept with the Defendant and shall be destroyed.
The Order of the Court dated October 28, 2022 can be accessed here.
Delhi High Court awards damages amounting to Rs. 3 lakhs for adoption of trademark Rajni Paan
The Delhi High Court awarded damages amounting to Rs. 3 lakhs to manufacturers of Rajnigandha Pan Masala and permanently restrained makers of Rajni Paan from manufacturing, selling or advertising products under the impugned mark. The Court further held that Rajnigandha is a well-known mark and the Defendant’s attempt to use the prefix RAJNI for similar line of goods shows clear mala fide intent on their part.
The Judgement of the Court dated September 27, 2022 can be accessed here.
Indian Army registers IPR of new design and camouflage pattern uniform
The Indian Army has obtained registration for its new combat uniform to establish ownership and ensure that action can be taken against the manufacturing by unauthorized vendors. The new pattern was unveiled on Army Day this year in January. Read more here.
Telangana High Court holds that only PepsiCo has the exclusive right to use Mountain Dew mark
The Telangana High Court set aside the order of the Civil Court and held that only PepsiCo has the exclusive right to use the Mountain Dew mark. The Court restrained the Defendant from using the Mountain Dew mark for its packaged drinking water bottles.
The trial court had held that PepsiCo’s rights over the impugned mark were not exclusive as the Defendant was first to use the label and thus, had rights to use the mark especially when the goods were different.
Delhi High Court restrains Kolkata based law firm from using an identical logo
Observing that lawyers have added responsibility and duty to ensure that they do not imitate or adopt a name or logo already in use by other offering similar services, the Delhi High Court restrained Kolkata based lawyer, Swarupa Ghosh, from using the logo for her chambers that was almost identical to Delhi based IP law firm, Sujata Chaudhri IP Attorneys.
The Defendant was using an identical stylized manner for her logo. The injunction will come into play from January 01, 2023. The Court further mentioned that the Defendant can amicably resolve the issue by adopting an alternative logo.
The Order of the Court dated October 19, 2022 can be accessed here.
