SpicyIP Highlight of the Week !
In this week’s highlight, I looked into the complexities associated with using a colour mark as a pharmaceutical trade dress, in the light of the trade mark infringement suit filed by AstraZeneca against Dr. Reddy’s alleging infringement of the former’s trademark for the purple colour of AsraZeneca’s antacid pill, Nexium, by Dr. Reddy’s generic version of the pill. Noting that the high standards of distinctiveness and likelihood of confusion required to be proved in an infringement suit would make it difficult to secure a victory, I go on to speculate the consequences of the suit had it been fought in India. Finally, I consider the implications of colour on a consumer’s choice of medication, and its implications on the present suit.
Next, Gopika somberly noted on Christmas day, the failure of the Delhi HC to issue its decree in the DU photocopy case despite a year having passed since the arguments concluded in late 2014. She notes that Justice Endlaw’s Court has violated Rule 1 of Order XX of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 that provides for the time limit to pronounce judgement, and has also consequently failed to provide reasons for the delay and set a future date, as legally mandated. She concludes hoping that the HC resolves the matter at the earliest.
Our next post was a SpicyIP Event post, where I shared the details of a National IP Seminar to be conducted by ILS Law College, Pune, on “Current Issues in Intellectual Property Laws in India” from 5th to the 6th of February, 2016.
Finally, Shruthi put up a SpicyIP Jobs post where she apprised our readers of the opportunity to join the Jindal Initiative for Research in Intellectual Property and Competition (JIRICO) as Research Analyst, Senior Research Analyst and Statistician to undertake innovative research on issues concerning the interplay between IP and competition law in the ICT industry.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
- Big Bang Theory’s Soft kitty embroiled in copyright lawsuit
- Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young girl enters public domain despite copyright battle
- Sweden’s Spotify sued for infringement of mechanical rights
- Germany’s new copyright levies spikes Apple products’ prices
- Trademarks can’t be rejected for being offensive, says US federal appeals court
- Ford filed crazy patent for futuristic car with a detachable rear wheel that can quickly transform into an electric unicycle.
- Dropbox secures patent for peer-to-peer synchronization
- Microsoft’s design patent for a slider interface element awarded ‘Stupid Patent of the Month’ by EEF