27 February 2012
Tissue paper manufacturers' in tussle over trademark infringement
 |
| Image from here |
A case has been decided by the High Court of Delhi relating to the ownership of the trademark “Premium Tissues”. The case, Premier Tissues India Ltd vs Rolia Tissues Industries & Anr, was a dispute between the parties for ownership of the trademark “Premium/ Premier” with regard to tissue papers. The parties sought for an injunction against each other for preventing the other from using the trademark. The court held that where it is established that the trademarks are infringing upon one another, the question as to the ownership of the mark can be answered based on the determination of the fact as to which of the parties was the prior user of the mark.
In this case the plaintiffs were manufacturing and selling tissue papers under the trademark “Premier” and the defendants were manufacturing and selling tissue papers under the trademark “Premium”. The plaintiff, who is based in Bangalore, is a considerably big company with an annual turnover of Rs.176,57,25,000 (One Hundred and Seventy Six Crores Fifty Seven Lac Twenty Five Thousand) last year and their clientele consists of reputed companies like Wipro, Infosys, Taj Group of Hotels, Meridien Group of Hotels, Manipal Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals etc. The defendants, who are based in Delhi are not such a big entity.
Both the parties in the case concurred on the fact that their respective marks were infringing upon each other. Hence, the court pronounced that it only had to decide who the prior user of the mark was. It held that the burden of proving prior use heavily rested on the person claiming it and failure to prove it would defeat the claim. In this case the evidence of prior use was in favour of the plaintiffs. The date of application and use claimed by the parties in the trade mark registry, advertisements in media like newspapers, magazines, articles in newspapers, documents relating to creation of a website in the name of trademark were considered as valid evidences. Also the fact that the defendants had agreed with the Trademark Registry to a disclaimer that they did not have exclusive right over the word “Premium” went against the defendants.
Author: Himendra
See also: A moment of ecstasy for DCM Shriram
Microsoft’s head-on collision with Motorola
Microsoft recently initiated a legal suit against Motorola for requesting unfair patent royalties involving video streaming. The software giant says Motorola is attempting to use essential patents "to kill video on the Web." Microsoft filed the complaint with the European Commission and alleges that Motorola has broken a promise to license patents on industry-standard technologies in a "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" (FRAND) way and adds that there's nothing FRANDly about Motorola's demands.
 |
| Image from here |
Motorola demands that Microsoft uses its technology in Microsoft’s products such as Windows PCs, Xbox game console on which Motorola claims patents. For Microsoft to use 50 of Motorola's patents, it would have to pay 2.25% against the final price of products that use H.264 or $22.50 for a $1,000 laptop. By comparison, to use H.264, Microsoft also has to license 2,300 more patents from 29 other firms. H.264 is an industry standard for video compression, the process of converting digital video into a format that takes up less capacity when it is stored or transmitted. Video compression (or video coding) is an essential technology for applications such as digital television, DVD-Video, mobile TV, videoconferencing and internet video streaming.
We performed a search in Indian patent database to unveil the number of granted patents for Microsoft and Motorola in the video coding technology. Microsoft holds 2 patent grants and Motorola holds 3 patent grants in video coding.
Disclaimer:
The data provided is based on the search performed on Indian patent office's database by using specific search queries and may not be complete due to limitations in extent of data or search query.
Author: Raghu
See also: Android under Attack by Microsoft
26 February 2012
24 February 2012
Radio SiNApSE Updates
|
IP News
Updates – 24 February 2012
|
|
*The Intellectual Property High
Court in Japan has cautioned internet shopping mall operators to remove
contents from the website that are protected under trademarks
*Intel lost trade name Lawsuit against customs brokerage and cargo
company named Intelport Services
*Dr. Gulshan Narang, Disease
Investigation Officer of the department of Lajpat Rai University of
Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar, has been been granted a Patent for his
invention of a technique for ‘Urea Detection in Milk’
*The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has been granted its
ninth patent from the IPR office in Chennai, for the production process of
“ready-to-cook mix and food from pearl millet”
*Microsoft filed a complaint with
European Union antitrust authorities accusing Google and Motorola Mobility of
charging too much for use of its patents
*A
group of Mexican scientists are close to develop a vaccine that could reduce
addiction to one of the world’s most notorious narcotics: heroin
Newsreader:
Rajni Mishra
|
To catch the IP wave, tune into www.radiosinapse.com
Philippines Expresses Dissent Over Inclusion of its Name in Piracy Watch List
 |
| Image from here |
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has expressed its dissent for adding its name in the Piracy Watch List, prepared by the office of USTR, under the Special 301 Process 2012. Every Year, the Office of United States Trade Representative (USTR) conducts a review of the intellectual property protection under section 182 of The Trade Act 1974, popularly known as The Special 301Process. Accordingly, it analyzes the efforts of all the countries in giving protection to the intellectual property rights at international level.
The officials of the IPOPHL have stated, “Inspired by its modest gains in recent years in protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights (IPRs), the Philippines continued to intensify its holistic approach to fight counterfeiting and piracy. The protection of IPRs is and remains to be a major area of concern of the Philippine Government not just because the Special 301 Review process identifies countries where IPR infringement represents a barrier to trade, but more so because the war against piracy and counterfeiting is a war against poverty and unemployment of most Filipinos. It is also a campaign to boost the country’s competitiveness towards economic development”
While submitting its comments, IPOPHL has also mentioned the initiatives taken by the Philippines Government in the year 2011 to protect the intellectual property rights. A Summit on Philippine Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy was held in the state, last year, in which Philippine Action Plan on IPR protection and Enforcement (2012-2016) was submitted to the office of the President. The aim of the summit was to bring awareness to the common people about the fatal effects of counterfeiting and piracy on the global economy. Delegates from National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR), the World Intellectual Property Organization, the US State Department, the IPR Business Partnership, and the International Trademark Association had participated in this event. In addition to it, The Philippines Government had also organized seminars and training workshops for spreading knowledge and awareness on the laws related to copyright protection in the state.
Reportedly, the executive machinery as well as the judicial department of the state has made commendable efforts in enforcing the laws related to the intellectual property rights. Rate of seizure of counterfeited and pirated goods has shown an increase up to 58.33% in the year 2011. Presently, Philippines is having sixty- five commercial courts having exclusive jurisdiction over intellectual property matters, to ensure speedy trials.
IPOPHL has stated that the endless efforts of the Philippine Government to ensure better protection of the intellectual property rights cannot be overlooked.
Mentioning all these facts, IPOPHL has applied to USTR to remove its name from the Piracy Watch List
Reference taken from: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/02/19/12/ipophl-seeks-removal-us-piracy-watchlist
Author: Neeru
23 February 2012
Back to nature- TNAU gets patent for 'ready- to- cook mix from pearl millet'
 |
| Image from here |
The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has been granted its ninth patent from the IPR office in Chennai, for the production process of “ready-to-cook mix and food from pearl millet”
Patent on this new technology which was granted on January 12, 2012 is claimed to be the first of its kind to get a patent grant, credit goes to R Kailappan, professor, department of food and agricultural process engineering, TNAU, who has developed this new technology.
Pearl millet (cumbu in Tamil and bajra in the North) is an important and healthy food grain which is rich in fat (5%), protein (11.8%) and minerals like calcium and iron and vitamins like thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. However, because of the availability of rice in ready-to-cook form, the usage of pearl millets has got decreased. Moreover, the traditional method of preparing food from pearl millet involves a cumbersome process, which is another reason for decline in consumption of pearl millet.
The new patented technology by Prof. R. Kailappan has been developed to overcome the problems associated with the traditional process of preparing food using pearl millet. Further, while explaining about this new technology Prof. Kailappan told, “The mix has to be mixed with water and cooked as per the instructions given on the pack. It can be cooked in a pressure cooker. There is no need to wash it or follow any of the pre-cooking steps”. From the explanation of this technology by Prof. Kailappan, it could be predicted that this new process of preparing food using pearl millet will stick fairly close to the process of preparing food using rice.
Further, obtaining IPR is not new to the university (TNAU), which has applied for 31 patents in the field of agro-technologies and products, and has obtained nine patents so far. Therefore, we can expect for some more inventive technologies from the university. Furthermore, the university is keen on commercializing this patented technology on “ready to cook mix and food from pearl millet”. Speaking on commercializing this new technology, R Viswanathan, professor and head, department of food and agricultural process engineering, TNAU, had told “Those interested in purchasing the rights for the technology for commercial use may contact: the director (Agri Business Development), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003. Phone: 0422 – 6611377”.
Further, with extensive commercialization of this new technology, we can expect the age old food grain (pearl millet) to make a mark in the field of food technology again, thereby adding nutritious value to our meals.
Patent on this new technology which was granted on January 12, 2012 is claimed to be the first of its kind to get a patent grant, credit goes to R Kailappan, professor, department of food and agricultural process engineering, TNAU, who has developed this new technology.
Pearl millet (cumbu in Tamil and bajra in the North) is an important and healthy food grain which is rich in fat (5%), protein (11.8%) and minerals like calcium and iron and vitamins like thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. However, because of the availability of rice in ready-to-cook form, the usage of pearl millets has got decreased. Moreover, the traditional method of preparing food from pearl millet involves a cumbersome process, which is another reason for decline in consumption of pearl millet.
The new patented technology by Prof. R. Kailappan has been developed to overcome the problems associated with the traditional process of preparing food using pearl millet. Further, while explaining about this new technology Prof. Kailappan told, “The mix has to be mixed with water and cooked as per the instructions given on the pack. It can be cooked in a pressure cooker. There is no need to wash it or follow any of the pre-cooking steps”. From the explanation of this technology by Prof. Kailappan, it could be predicted that this new process of preparing food using pearl millet will stick fairly close to the process of preparing food using rice.
Further, obtaining IPR is not new to the university (TNAU), which has applied for 31 patents in the field of agro-technologies and products, and has obtained nine patents so far. Therefore, we can expect for some more inventive technologies from the university. Furthermore, the university is keen on commercializing this patented technology on “ready to cook mix and food from pearl millet”. Speaking on commercializing this new technology, R Viswanathan, professor and head, department of food and agricultural process engineering, TNAU, had told “Those interested in purchasing the rights for the technology for commercial use may contact: the director (Agri Business Development), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003. Phone: 0422 – 6611377”.
Further, with extensive commercialization of this new technology, we can expect the age old food grain (pearl millet) to make a mark in the field of food technology again, thereby adding nutritious value to our meals.
Author: Nirmal
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)