TRADEMARK
DELHI HIGH COURT GRANTS INJUNCTION AGAINST SOUTH INFOSYS LIMITED
Recently, Infosys Limited (hereinafter "Plaintiff")
filed an appeal against Southern Infosys Limited (hereinafter
"Defendant") to prohibit from using the mark
'INFOSYS' as part of its corporate name. The Plaintiff
asserted continuous and uninterrupted use of the mark since 1981,
emphasizing its national and international recognition. Thus, the
Plaintiff stated that the use of the mark by the Defendant would
likely cause confusion in public. Contrarily, the Defendant claimed
that the mark was generic and descriptive. The Defendant further
highlighted that there is neither similarity in the trademarks nor
in the nature of business and would thus, eliminate
confusion.
The Court dismissed the Defendants contention that the mark is
generic. The Bench further noted that the mark undoubtedly
'acquired a distinct secondary' meaning linking it
ineradicably to Plaintiff. The Court further, held that while the
prefix "Southern" suggested differentiation,
"Infosys" remained the dominant element, and would cause
public confusion. Thus, the injunction was granted against the
Defendant from using the mark in its corporate name.
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TRADEMARK
BOMBAY HIGH COURT SUMMONED PATANJALI DIRECTOR TO ISSUE AN APOLOGY FOR THE TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
Recently, Mangalam Organics (hereinafter "Plaintiff") initiated a contempt case against, Patanjali Ayurveda alleging that Patanjali 'mimicked' their camphor product, despite a restraining order issued in August 2023. They contended that Patanjali's 'cone-shaped, non-woven fabric draped packaging' was sold online and in Mega Store in Mumbai's Virar, leading to consumer confusion. Additionally, the Plaintiff's presented invoices from March 10 to April 28 showcasing the product's manufacturing date.
Consequently, the Bombay HC summoned Patanjali's director, demanding an 'unconditional apology' for alleged trademark infringement pertaining to the camphor product.
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PATENT
BHARAT BIOTECH TO ADD ICMR AS CO-INVENTOR OF COVAXIN
Covaxin, was a joint collaboration between the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR) and the Bharat Biotech International
Limited (BBIL). BBIL applied for a patent as a solo inventor for
the vaccine in India, the US and Europe without giving due credit
to ICMR. However, two days after filing of the application BBIL
published a press release stating that not including ICMR in the
patent application was an unintentional mistake. Further, BBIL
added that the exclusion occurred as the "BBIL-ICMR agreement
copy, being a confidential document, was not
accessible".
Subsequently, BBIL stated that necessary documents are being
prepared to add ICMR as the co-inventor of COVAXIN.
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COPYRIGHT
BIG MUSIC LABELS SUE TWO AI SONG GENERATORS OVER ALLEGED COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
In an interesting news, group of music labels including Warner Music Group, Sony Music Group, and Universal Music Group (hereinafter "Plaintiff") have initiated a lawsuit against Suno and Udio (prominent AI music generators) in the US Federal Court. The AI models aid users in generating digital music files that sound like genuine human sound recordings. Plaintiff's contended that this process involved the copying of world's renowned sound recordings to imitate human sound recordings without their permission. Further, the Plaintiff's argued that the AI-generated sound recordings directly created competitive digital music files and acted as a substitute for genuine human sound recordings. The Plaintiffs seek damages up to $150,000 per work infringed. However, the matter is pending before the Federal Court.
(1) https://www.wired.com/story/ai-music-generators-suno-and-udio-sued-for-copyright-infringement/
MISCELLANEOUS
KUMAR SANU CLAIMS TO PROTECT HIS PERSONALITY RIGHTS
In a recent interview, renowned singer Mr. Kumar Sanu stated that he intends to safeguard his personality rights, amid the rising concerns of duplicated AI content. Additionally, he asserts that producers incongruously remake old songs. Previously, personality rights have been protected by several actors viz. Jacky Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan.
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