articles
Intellectual Property
Obtaining statutory licence requires strict compliance with Copyright Rules
18 July 2022
Over the years, radio broadcasters and copyright owners i.e., music producers have been in a tussle before various courts and tribunals on various issues pertaining to music licensing. In the past year, radio broadcasters and music producers have been at crossroads with each other regarding compliance with certain rules prescribed for obtaining a statutory licence.
Competition and Antitrust
Bid-Rigging in Public Procurement: An Indian Perspective
08 July 2022
The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) in recent years, has become a vigorous regulator. Frequent, suo moto investigations, exemplary penalties to create a deterrent effect, and market studies to better understand evolving markets are some of the actions taken by the CCI in the past few years.
International Trade & WTO
Notes from the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference – India saves the day
30 June 2022
The World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) concluded the 12th Ministerial Conference (‘MC 12’) in Geneva on 16 June 2022. Being the first Ministerial Conference since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020 and being held after a more than four-year hiatus, MC 12 was one of the most anticipated Ministerial Conferences.
Goods and Services Tax
Compensation Cess and sharing of revenue with States – Some points to ponder
24 June 2022
On the 5th Anniversary of implementation of GST in India, the article discusses the levy of compensation cess which was initially imposed to compensate the States for their revenue loss due to GST implementation, and which was supposed to expire after 5 years. Elaborately discussing the levy, the article deliberates the background of the recommendation of the GST Council to extend the levy till March 2026. It also notes how the States will not get any compensation after June 2022. The authors...
Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions / PE
Contract labour under the new regime – An Overview
22 June 2022
Under the Constitution of India, ‘labour’ is a subject matter of the concurrent list. Therefore, both Central and State Governments have the power to enact labour and employment legislations. This has frequently resulted in legal quagmires because of numerous laws being enacted having overlapping provisions and governing similar subject matters relating to labour and employment.
Direct Tax
The Government Giveth and the Government Taketh Away: Charitable Institutions satisfied but facing accounting complexities
20 June 2022
The year 2022 has witnessed major changes in exemption regimes available to charitable institutions under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘IT Act’). Through these changes, while the Government has seemingly decayed one issue faced by charitable institutions, it has also given birth to a new one. The following paragraphs will discuss both these issues and analyze the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the amendments of 2022.
Intellectual Property
Scope of remand in pre-grant oppositions
16 June 2022
The present article deals with a noteworthy decision of the Indian Patents Office (‘IPO’) on the pre-grant opposition under Section 25(1) of the Patents Act, 1970 (‘Patents Act’). The said order was issued pursuant to the Delhi High Court (‘High Court’) remanding the matter to the Assistant Controller of Patents & Design (‘Controller’).
Regulatory
Amendment to Intermediaries Guidelines
15 June 2022
Recently, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (‘MEITY’) released a draft amendment (‘Draft Amendment’) to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (‘Guidelines’) for public consultations. The Draft Amendment proposes to bring about certain changes to the grievance redressal mechanism, timelines for responding to grievances and proposes constitution...
International Trade & WTO
India and its recent comprehensive trade agreements – Attempting success for market access
31 May 2022
In November 2019, the Government of India (‘GOI’) surprised the international trading community by withdrawing from the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive and Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), which it had been part of for several years.
Goods and Services Tax
Interest on delayed payment of tax – The saga continues!
25 May 2022
This article concerns Section 50 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (‘CGST Act’). Much has been said and done about whether interest is liable to be paid on the gross tax liability in case of delayed payment of taxes.
Corporate
ESG – A sustainable model for a better future
20 May 2022
Securities Market Regulator, SEBI, on 5 May 2021, made it mandatory for the top 1,000 listed entities (by market capitalization calculated as on the 31st day of March of every financial year) to provide annually a Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) from the financial year 2022-23.
Direct Tax
Apex Laboratories: A bitter pill to swallow for the healthcare sector?
18 May 2022
A contentious issue that has seen much litigation in the recent past is regarding the claim of expenditure under Section 37 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘IT Act’) incurred by pharmaceutical companies on gifting of freebies to doctors.
Intellectual Property
Copyright authorship to artificial intelligence: Who owns it?
17 May 2022
On 14 February 2022, the Review Board of the United States Copyright Office (‘Board’) opined on the registrability of works generated by Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’), a topic which has been deliberated by scholars and professionals in the field of intellectual property law since the advent of autonomous technology.
Intellectual Property
Domain Name Registrars and their role in domain name infringement suits
16 May 2022
The article analyses a recent decision of the Delhi High Court wherein the Court refused to grant the prayer seeking issuance of an omnibus order restraining the Defendants from offering domain names containing the word ‘SNAPDEAL’. Yet, the Court held that the Defendants will not be granted the ‘safe harbour’ protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 if they continue to provide alternate domain names, for commercial profits, which infringe the registered trademarks.
Regulatory
Analyzing the new CERT-IN Directions: Wider gamut than breach reporting
09 May 2022
The CERT-IN has released a set of Directions dated April 28, 2022 under the Information Technology Act (“Directions”) which relate to reporting of cyber security incidents and adopting additional measures towards protection of the IT and internet ecosystem in India. The article discusses the directions, enhanced obligations and new obligations introduced under the Directions for virtual private networks, virtual private servers and virtual asset providers…
Demystifying SPACs Is the time ripe for Indian companies to list on overseas bourses?
03 May 2022
Goldman Sachs backed Renew Power - one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, finally announced overseas listing through SPAC after long drawn discussions on raising funds through asset sale or listing through an IPO in India.
International Trade & WTO
Particular Market Situation in anti-dumping cases: A tool to address distortions
28 April 2022
Particular Market Situation is a situation existing in the market of a product in the exporting country which is ‘particular’ or ‘distinct’ to the product in a manner that it can potentially distort its domestic selling prices and render them unfit for comparison with the export prices. Observing that the law is silent regarding the appropriate approach to determine the existence of a PMS, the article discusses some recent cases wherein the Indian investigating authority undertook a PMS analysis
Intellectual Property
Passing of an interim order during stay on a suit of infringement proceedings
26 April 2022
The article discusses a recent Delhi High Court decision reiterating the principle encapsulated in Section 124 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 while also clarifying the scope of Section 124(5). The Court confirmed that an interim order can be passed even if the infringement suit has been stayed in view of Section 124. However, the Court stated that in order to analyze whether an interim order can be passed under Section 124(5), it is imperative to look...
Intellectual Property
Dishonest use of a well-known and descriptive trademark amounting to infringement
26 April 2022
The article analyses decision of the Delhi High Court which has held that once the Plaintiff has shown that the use by the Defendants is of the exact word i.e., the registered trademark of the plaintiff, and that the goods or services are identical, the Court will necessarily presume that confusion would arise in the minds of the public or consumers as to the origin of the goods or services and accordingly, an interim injunction would have to be issued. The authors state that even though...