IP News Update: July 2022

• Gems v. James Bond, Rs.16 Lakhs Awarded in Damages

Mondelez India Foods Private Limited dragged Neeraj Foods to court over trademark infringement of their brand “Cadbury Gems”. Neeraj was involved in the creation and sale of a similar product under the name of “James Bond”. The Delhi High Court held that the packaging and the label of the two products were deceptively similar and awarded Mondelez compensation and damages of Rs.16 Lakhs. Justice Pratibha Singh awarded the said damages to cover the cost of interim relief sought and the cost of the suit since the case had been ongoing since 2007.

• Sony Alleges its Own OTT Platform of Copyright Infringement

Sony, in its routine of filing takedown requests with google to stop pirated content online, has mistakenly reported its own OTT platform for copyright infringement. In a complaint made by Sony India to Google, Sony Liv platforms links were reported to have infringed their copyrighted TV series. The debate on the efficacy of DMCA provisions was sparked due to this incident. Many other media giants have previously done the same including Warner Brothers and Walt Disney Pictures.

• A False Copyright Strike Breaks the Two-Year Running Stream of Lofi Girl

A well-reputed Lofi-music streaming channel “Lofi Girl” had been streaming Lofi music continuously for 2 years 4 months and 18 days, before it was taken off by Youtube over a false copyright claim. The channel has over 11 million subscribers and has about 20 thousand active viewers at all times. Any “copyright troll” could take down a video on Youtube due to the current system. This also instanced the dire need for internet intermediaries and legislators to re-think the take-down process.

• Meta drags a Bengaluru-based Cakery to Court over Trademark “Facebake”

Meta has claimed that their trademark “Facebook” has been infringed by a Bengaluru-based cakery using the marks “facebake” and “facecake” for their business. The Delhi High Court ruled in favor of Meta and awarded Rs.50,000 in damages and directed the defendants to cover the cost of the suit. It also directed them to deliver all the finished and unfinished goods to Meta for its destruction. Justice Pratibha Singh considered and relied on the principle of trademark dilution for reaching a conclusion.

• ISKCON v. ISKCON, Ownership of the “ISKCON” Mark Questioned in Court

ISKCON was recently held to be a well-known trademark by the Mumbai High Court, the plaintiff of which was ISKCON, Mumbai. The Court clarified in an appeal sought by ISKCON, Bangalore that they did not comment on the ownership of the said mark, but only regarding its well-known status. They mentioned that ownership and registerability will solely be decided by the Registrar of Trade Marks.

• Nokia Prevails Over Oppo in German Courts in Patent Infringement Suit

Nokia secures its second consecutive win in Germany regarding its patent infringement claim against Oppo. The result has allowed Nokia to prohibit the sale of Oppo phones in German territory. Nokia’s claims are over nine Standard Essential Patents and five implementation patents regarding 4G and 5G technology. Oppo has even countersued Nokia in nine other countries over the same patents. The Mannheim Regional Court was clear regarding Oppo’s infringement and granted Nokia’s Cease and Desist notice to be enforced, banning the sale of Oppo and OnePlus phones in Germany.

• Digital Vaccines are Going to be the Next Big Thing in the Biomedical Industry

Image sourced from Play Store

Indian Entrepreneur, Bharghav Sri Prakash, hailing from Chennai, Tamil Nadu has become the first to receive patent rights in the US over a digital vaccine. Bhargav is the director of FriendsLearn which created Fooya, an artificial intelligence-based software that instills vaccines through games. The vaccine is currently aimed at reducing and eradicating illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and cancer; cognitive diseases such as ADHD, and dementia; and, infectious diseases like COVID-19. The treatment forms a part of the digital therapeutics discipline.