TRADEMARK LAW SYLLABUS

HONS. II (SEMESTER IX &VII)

I. Introduction:
1. Meaning & characteristics of a trademark.
2. Evolution of trademark protection:
 Evolution of ‘marks’/ proprietary marks.
 Development of trademark protection in India.
3. Foundations and functions of trademarks.
4. International developments & dimensions of trademark protection:
a) Paris Convention for The Protection of Industrial Property, 1883
b) Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips), 1995.
c) Madrid System for International Registration of Marks:
 Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks,
1891
 Protocol Relating to The Madrid Agreement, 1989
d) Trademark Law Treaty, 1994.
e) Nice Agreement, 1957 (Nice Classification Of Classes Of Goods & Services)
f) Vienna Agreement, 1973 (Vienna Classification)
5. Categories of trademarks:
a) Conventional trademarks: well-known marks, certification marks, collective
trademarks, series trademark and associated trademarks.
 The ‘well known’ trademark under the new trade mark rules, 2017: is the
new procedure constitutional? Prashant Reddy, SpicyIP
- Whirlpool Corporation and Another V. N R Dongre
- Kamal Trading Co. V. Gillette UK Limited
- Christian Louboutin V. Pawan Kumar. 2017

b) Non-conventional trademarks: Smell marks, Sound marks. Colour marks

(single colour), taste marks, moving images/ hologram/ gesture, three dimensional
trademarks.
 The requirement of graphical representability for non-conventional
trademarks, Arka Majumdar, Subhojit Sadhu and Sunandan Majumdar,
JIPR 2006
 Registration of non-traditional trademarks, NEHA MISHRA, JIPR 2008
 Colour markability: registrable in few nations, but debatable among
many!, Deli Yang, JIPR 2012
  Protecting smell marks: breaking conventionality, Abhijeet Kumar, JIPR
2016
 Choco wars: the trademark menace- part i, ii Shan Kohli, SpicyIp.

II. Creation of trademark and grounds for refusal:

1. Creation of Trademarks:
a) The distinctiveness spectrum
b) Concept of acquired distinctiveness and generic marks
- Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. vs Girnar Food & Beverages Pvt. Ltd. 1997
- Marico Limited vs Agro Tech Foods Limited 2010
- Pidilite Industries Ltd. And Anr vs Vilas Nemichand Jain And Anr 2010
- Cadila Healthcare Vs. Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation. 2009
2. Grounds for refusal of trademark protection
a) Absolute grounds for refusal
b) Relative grounds for refusal
- Bhole Baba Milk Food Industries Ltd. v. Parul Food Specialities (P) Ltd. 2011
- Sunil Mittal v. Darzi on Call, Delhi High Court 2017
3. Registration of trademarks:
a) Procedure for domestic filing of trademarks.
b) procedure for international filing of trademarks.
c) An overview of certification trademark filing procedure.

III. Commercial dealing with trademarks:

1. Trademarks as property: an overview
2. Licensing of registered trademarks: scope & limitations
3. Assignment of trademarks: concept & practice
a) Assignment of trademark with goodwill
b) Assignment of trademarks without goodwill

IV. Enforcement of trademark rights:

A. Registered trademark
1. Infringement of trademarks
a) Unauthorized use & likelihood of confusion
- St. Ives Laboratories Inc. v. Indo Cosmesi Pvt. Ltd. 2005 (31) PTC 635 (Del)
- Smithkline Beecham Plc & Another V. S.Venkataiah & Others 2005 (31) PTC
666 (Del).
- Gillette Company LLC v. Tigaksha Metallics Private Ltd, Delhi High Court
2018
b) Secondary liability / contributory liability
2. Defenses against trademark infringement
 a) Use of registered trademark
b) Use of name or address
c) Use to indicate intended purpose of a product or services
d) Descriptive use
e) Local use
f) Exhaustion
3. Revocation & invalidity

B. Unregistered trademarks: passing off

1. General principles: foundation & nature of action
 Passing off and the misappropriation of valuable intangibles law quarterly review,
law quarterly review
- N R Dongre v. Whirlpool Corporation 1996 5 Scc 714
- Mars Incorporated v. Chanda Soft Ice Cream And Others, Air 2001 Madras 237
- Rob Mathys v. Synthes 1997 Ptc 669 Del
- Cadila Health Care Ltd v. Cadila Pharmaceutical Ltd. (2001)
2. Evidences in passing off action: goodwill, misrepresentation & damage.
3. Scope of passing off
4. Difference between infringement and passing off
5. Trademark dilution
 The Polymorphism of Trade Mark Dilution in India, Dr. Dev Gangee, SpicyIP
 Delhi HC: No ‘Confusion’ for Dilution under Section 29(4), Mihir Naniwadekar,
SpicyIP
- T.V. Venogopal v. Ushodaya Enterprises Ltd. & Anr, Supreme Court, 2011
- Bloomberg Finance LP v. Prafull Saklecha & Ors. On 11 October, 2013

V. Remedies against the infringement and passing off:

 Civil
- Kiran George, Punitive Damages and the Defendant’s wealth: An overlooked
nexus? SpicyIP
- Time Incorporated vs Lokesh Srivastava And Anr. 2005
- Hindustan Unilever Ltd. v. Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd.2013
- Ferrero Rocher v. Ruchi International 2017
- Verizon Trademark Services LLC & Ors v. Mr. Parth Solanki & Anr 2017
 Criminal
 Asst. Registrar Files Criminal Complaint(s) against False Representation of
Marks as ‘Registered’, SpicyIP
 R v M, R v C, R v T, UK Supreme Court, 2017,
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2017/58.html
 Administrative
VI. Contemporary issues
 Ambush marketing
 Ambush Marketing: More Than Just A Commercial Irritant?, Janet Hoek And
Philip Gendall
 Ambush Marketing – Need For Legislation In India. Authors: Seth, Rukmani, Jipr
Vol.15(6) [November 2010]
 Parallel importation and its legality under the act
 Trademark & the internet: an overview
 A Distinct Ip Domain for India? Shamnad Basheer,
Https://Spicyip.Com/2012/01/Distinct-Ip-Domain-For-India.Html
 The Domain Name Chaos- A Legal Perspective by Christine Chiramel
 Domain Name Dispute Resolution in India, Majumdar And Co. (In File with
Faculty)
- Bigtree Entertainment Pvt Ltd Vs Brain Seed Sportainment Pvt 2017
 Disparagement & Comparative Advertisement.
 Comparative Advertising and The Consumer - Changing Dynamics, Bk Lenin
And Arun Babu,
 Liberalisation And Law on Comparative Advertising in India, In File With
Faculty.
 Character &Celebrity Merchandising
 Characters And Merchandising Rights, Masayasu Ishida, Director, Toppan
Printing Co.,Ltd.,
Www.Ircc.Iitb.Ac.In/Webnew/Unused/Ipcourse/Dr.../Additional%20docs/6-05.Pdf
 Character Merchandizing, WIPO.

Books for Reference:

1. W.R. Cornish, Intellectual Property, Sweet & Maxwell, London (2000)
2.Kerly’s Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names, Thomson, Sweet & Maxweel
3. N.S. Gopalakrishnan & T.G. Agitha, Principles of Intellectual Property (2009), Eastern Book
Company, Lucknow
4. Lionel Bently And Brad Sherman. Intellectual Property Law (2014) Oxford University Press.
5. Narayanan P., 2004, Law Of Trade Mark And Passing Off , Eastern Law House