Infringement, unlike passing off, is to be decided on a plain comparison of rival marks. Goodwill and reputation have little, if any, part to play. The matter has to be examined from the perspective of a customer of average intelligence and imperfect recollection, who is neither a genius nor a fool. One may, in a […]
Read more "Initial Interest Confusion"Dr. Anand Teltumbde v. National Investigation Agency, 2022 SCC OnLine Bom 5174 has not been interfered with. _____ Hitendra Vishnu Thakur v. State of Maharashtra, (1994) 4 SCC 602; Niranjan Singh Karam Singh Punjabi v. Jitendra Bhimraj Bijjaya, (1990) 4 SCC 76 and Usmanbhai Dawoodbhai Memon v. State of Gujarat, (1988) 2 SCC 271] were […]
Read more "Vernon’s Bail"Aarur Tamilnadan sought a declaration: ‘Enthiran‘ is an infringing copy of Aarur’s ‘Jugiba‘, a story about a Humanoid Robo. ‘Jugiba‘ was published by ‘Iniya Udayam‘ in April, 1996. A film has a wide field, a big background. A film if by and large is a copy, violation of copyright may be said to be proved […]
Read more "Humanoid Robo"It was urged, while it is undoubtedly important to respect popular will and Courts ought to be slow in upsetting them, equally it is important to maintain purity of an election process. Courts are, hence, duty bound to examine allegations without being unduly hyper-technical in their approach. Bhim Rao Baswanth Rao Patil defeated K. Madan […]
Read more "Monstrosity of Winnability III"A conjoint reading of Section 34 of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and Section 94 of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 indicates hierarchy of documents to be accepted. No document produced was a date of birth certificate from a school or a matriculation or equivalent certificate. […]
Read more "Hierarchy of Documents / Claim of Juvenility VI"Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) met an untimely end on 14.06.2020. The circumstances remain murky and dust is still to settle. The right to privacy and publicity are not heritable and died with SSR. The information contained in Nyay: The Justice constitute publicly available information. However, to put it plainly, coincidences are one too many. It […]
Read more "SSR"The role of Judiciary is to ensure, Legislature and Executive function within constitutional limits. Court has held, effect of Judgments can be nullified. However, nullification of Mandamus would be an impermissible legislative exercise. Respondent No. 1 could not have issued Orders, dated 17.11.2021 and 17.11.2022, in breach of Mandamus issued. – Hon’ble Justice B.R. Gavai, […]
Read more "The Writ of Mandamus IV"The blast at hand was not an isolated incident. It was part of an international conspiracy which was masterminded by A11, Bilal Ahmed Beg, who never faced trial. It is proved beyond reasonable doubt, A3 not only hatched a criminal conspiracy but also actively participated in procurement of materials. He failed to justify incriminating circumstances. […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty XXXVII"Plaintiff adopted the device mark ‘Bhaiyaji Kahin’ with effect from 2016 under Classes 38 and 41. It came to Plaintiff’s knowledge in 2022, Defendant was launching a show titled ‘Bhaiya Ji Superhit’. What would be included in Class 38 would be names of TV channels; names of programmes telecast on these channels would be subject […]
Read more "Bhaiyaji"Copying is not actionable at law if it stops short of infringement or passing off. Imitation, after all, is one form of flattery. The likelihood of confusion has to be examined from point of view of a customer of average intelligence and imperfect recollection, not an amnesiac. If features of dissimilarity are numerous, with little […]
Read more "Dissimilar Trade Dress"Sir William Blackstone was the greatest exponent of common law we have ever had. But, strangely enough, when I was at Oxford I was told nothing about him. His fame was so great, he was made a Judge of Court of Common Pleas. But, like many learned men, he was not a great Judge. He […]
Read more "Golfer’s Piece of Chocolate"Ask me about any space I’ve occupied – castle, cockpit, classroom, stateroom, bedroom, palace, garden, pub – and I’ll recreate it down to the carpet tacks. Is it genetics? Trauma? Whatever the cause, my memory is my memory, it does what it does, gathers and curates as it seems fit. August 30, 1997. They tried, […]
Read more "Spare"02-11-2018 – 15-05-2023 The rule flowing from the maxim ‘generalia specialibus non derogant’ has been i) considered in Hari Shankar Jain, (1978) 4 SCC 16 and ii) explained in Mary Seward v. Owner of “Vera Cruz”, (1884) 10 AC 59, 68. Pharmacy Council of India v. Dr. S.K. Toshniwal Educational Trusts, [Transfer Petition (Civil) Nos. 87-101 of 2014]. […]
Read more "Random Collectibles of Justice M.R. Shah at Supreme Court"Prakash Nishad was charged for having committed offences punishable under Sections 376, 377, 302 and 201 of The Indian Penal Code, 1860. Trial Court convicted in connection with all offences and imposed Capital Punishment. High Court affirmed. We may point out, it is a case of circumstantial evidence. There are yawning gaps, numerous lapses. Court […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty XXXVI"Division Bench of this Court in Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja, (2014) 7 SCC 547 had essentially outlawed Jallikattu and Bullock Cart Race. These bovine sports were held to be contrary to The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. A. Nagaraja found, bulls, to be non-suitable for being involved in any […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Bovine Sports"I express my inability to agree with Justice Ajay Rastogi. The status of a person whether he belongs to SC or ST category depends on caste which he belongs to by birth, and such status would remain unchanged and would be static. The status of a person whether he belongs to OBC-NCL/MBC-NCL/EWS would depend upon […]
Read more "Referred to Larger Bench XXXV (Answered): Dynamic Status"Extolling of one’s positive features is permissible. However, denigration of a rival’s or a competitor’s product is completely impermissible. It would be reading too much into Santoor’s impugned advertisement, in my opinion, to extract from it anything derogatory or deprecating regarding Dettol. It does not even obliquely refer to moisturizing qualities, present or absent, of […]
Read more "Comparative Advertising IV"Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation was first introduced in State of Kerala v. K.G. Madhavan Pillai, (1988) 4 SCC 669. A blanket bar of Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation against a statute would cause great havoc. A blanket ban on Promissory Estoppel against a statute cannot be applicable to Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation. They are distinct. Doctrine […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation V"Law of abandonment is based upon the maxim ‘invito beneficium non datur’. It means, law confers upon a man no rights or benefits which he does not desire. In P. Dasa Muni Reddy v. P. Appa Rao, (1974) 2 SCC 725 this Court held, “abandonment of right is much more than mere waiver, acquiescence or […]
Read more "Invito Beneficium Non Datur / The Revival of Ray XCII"If a passenger opts for the green channel of entry, it implies, it has no goods liable to duty. However, if still found with goods subject to levy of duty, the passenger becomes liable to confiscatory and penal action. If a non-declaration under Section 77 of The Customs Act, 1962 would automatically bar benefit of […]
Read more "Referred to Larger Bench XXXIV: Green Channel of Entry"
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