Courting intellectual property

NANDINI GUHA / TNN / Oct 26, 2005, 21:52 IST

Share

AA

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

A new city court to deal with copy cats and plagiarists.

A new city court to deal with copy cats and plagiarists.
You want to have only one specific brand of chocolate. If you feel shortchanged by the shopkeeper who gives you another bar of chocolate instead, you can move court. Worse still, under the Trademark Act, 1999, the original brand can always contest the copycat brand.
Kolkata is finally getting a separate court for all activities related to trademark, patent and copyright -- or all things related to intellectual property rights.And if the city's IP lawyers can get their act right, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may inaugurate the building -- I P House -- in Salt Lake, during his visit scheduled for October 29.
Lawyer Mihir Chakravarti sees this as a positive development for several of his clients who are fighting the piracy menace. "In the last few years, the number of cases related to piracy of musicassettes and CDs has increased.

Also, there are so many serials and music-videos which are blatant copies of their Western counterparts. After all, India lost global patent rights on Basmati rice but won the patent for Darjeeling tea and these days, people are growing more conscious about their rights," Chakravarti told CT.
Biswajit Sarkar, IP lawyer, is relieved, since all his cases can now be handled under one roof. "Earlier, one had to run from pillar to post for adjudication related to trademark, patent or copyright issues.

With the number of cases going up regarding piracy of logos, design, brand name, scientific discovery, one needed to have a quasi-judicial body in the city for arbitration. Later, one can appeal to the High Court or Supreme Court for intervention," Biswas99 said.
caltimes@timesgroup.com

End of Article

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA