Bata v. Crocs : Supreme Court Dismisses Pleas Of Footwear Makers Against Maintainability Of Crocs' Passing Off Suits Over Design Infringement

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by Bata India Ltd and five other footwear manufacturers challenging the Delhi High Court's judgment which held that the suits filed by Crocs Inc.USA alleging passing off over the infringement of the latter's footwear designs registered under the Designs Act were maintainable.A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Alok Aradhe refused to interfere with the Delhi High Court Division Bench's ruling of July 1 that a passing off...

Supreme Court Transfers Eureka Forbes' Patent Infringement Suit Against Atomberg's “Intellon” Water Purifier To Bombay High Court

The Supreme Court has transferred a patent infringement suit filed by Eureka Forbes Limited before the Delhi High Court to the Bombay High Court, where a related suit by Atomberg Technologies Private Limited for “groundless threat of infringement” is already pending.A bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Atul S Chandurkar allowed Atomberg's transfer petition and dismissing Eureka Forbes' counter-transfer petition.“In the interest of saving precious judicial time and to avoid...

Supreme Court Rejects Plea Of Ilaiyaraaja's Music Company To Transfer Sony's Suit From Bombay HC To Madras HC

The Supreme Court on Monday (July 28) dismissed a transfer petition filed by music maestro Ilaiyaraaja's 'Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd' (IMMA) seeking to transfer the copyright infringement suit filed against it by Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt Ltd from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court.The bench of CJI BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria heard the matter. The bench noted that Ilaiyaraaja's appeal in the Madras High Court was filed subsequent to...

Director Sujoy Ghosh Approaches Supreme Court To Quash Copyright Infringement Case Over "Kahaani 2" Film Script

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 2) issued notice on a petition filed by national award-winning scriptwriter and director Sujoy Ghosh seeking to quash a criminal case filed under Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957, on the allegation that his movie "Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh" was based on a stolen script.A bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice R Mahadevan, while issuing notice to the State of Jharkhand and the complainant, allowed exemption to Ghosh from personal appearance...

PPL Copyright Issue | Third Parties Not Exempt From Paying License Fee To PPL Because Of Stay In Azure's Favour : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently clarified that its interim stay order dated April 21, 2025, in the dispute between Phonographic Performance Ltd. (PPL) and Azure Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. will apply only between the parties to the suit pending before the Delhi High Court and not to third parties.On April 21, 2025 the Supreme Court had stayed the direction of the Delhi High Court ordering Azure to pay PPL licence fees for playing its copyrighted sound recordings calculated as per the tariff of Recorded...

Supreme Court Rejects Challenging Validity Of Rule 29(4) Copyright Rules Requiring Prior Notice For Statutory Broadcast Licence

The Supreme Court rejected a plea challenging Rule 29(4) of the Copyright Rules, 2013, which sets out the specific particulars that broadcasters must include in the prior notice required for invoking the statutory licence under Section 31D of the Copyright Act, 1957.Section 31D provides for a statutory licence to broadcasters to communicate literary and musical works and sound recordings without requiring prior individual licences from copyright owners, subject to conditions including prior...

All Trademark Disputes Aren't Outside Arbitration; In Personam Issues Relating To License Agreement Arbitrable : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently held that a mere allegation of fraud or misconduct does not divest an arbitral tribunal of its jurisdiction to adjudicate in personam disputes stemming from contractual relationships governed by an arbitration agreement.“The law is well settled that allegations of fraud or criminal wrongdoing or of statutory violation would not detract from the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal to resolve a dispute arising out of a civil or contractual relationship on the basis of...

Copyright Claim Over Songs In Restaurants: Supreme Court Stays Delhi HC Direction In Phonographic Performance Ltd's Plea

The Supreme Court has stayed Delhi High Court's direction to Azure Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. to pay Phonographic Performance Ltd. (PPL) as per the tariff of Recorded Music Performance Ltd. (RMPL), as if PPL were a member of RMPL, for playing songs from PPL's catalogue.A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice in PPL's special leave petition challenging the judgment of the division bench of the High Court that modified a temporary injunction granted by a single judge...

Supreme Court Lays Down Twin Test To Resolve Copyright–Design Conflict Under S15(2) Of Copyright Act

The Supreme Court today (April 15) resolved an ambiguity under the intellectual property (IP) law, by resolving the overlap between 'design' and 'copyright' protection under Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act. Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act specifically deals with designs capable of being registered under the Designs Act, 2000, and the limit of copyright protection in such cases. The copyright protection to such design ceases if the design remains unregistered and is industrially...

In Suit For Passing Off, Plaintiff Required To Prove Figures Of Sale/ Advertisement Expenses To Establish Goodwill : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has reiterated that in a suit for passing off, for establishing goodwill of the product, it is necessary for the plaintiff to prove not only the figures of sale of the product but also the expenditure incurred on promotion and advertisement of the product. The Court was hearing an appeal against the decision of the High Court, who had stayed the execution of the decree passed by the Triall Court in favour of the appellant-plaintiff in a suit for copyright infringement and...

Section 63 Copyright Act - Copyright Infringement Is A Cognizable & Non Bailable Offence: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court held that the offence of copyright infringement under Section 63 of the Copyright Act is a cognizable and non ­bailable offence.If the offence is punishable with imprisonment for three years and onwards but not more than seven years the offence is a cognizable offence, the bench comprising Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna observed. BackgroundThe appellant had filed an application under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. and sought directions from the Chief Metropolitan ...

Supreme Court Dismisses Director SJ Suryah's Plea For Injunction Against Hindi Remake Of Tamil Film 'Valee'

A Supreme Court bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna recently upheld Madras High Court's order dated November 12, 2021 of refusing to grant injunction against the remake of the Tamil film "Valee".SJ Suryah, the director of the 1999 film starring Ajith and Simran, had approached the Top Court. Dismissing his petition, the Top Court in the order dated April 25 said, "We have heard Mrs. V. Mohana, learned Senior Advocate, appearing for the petitioner for about half an hour...