FIR Filed Against Sundar Pichai & 5 Others Over Copyright Infringement

An FIR has recently been filed against the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, and five other employees of the tech giant at the MIDC police station following a court order. The FIR has been registered based on a complaint put forward by a Bollywood filmmaker, director, and producer, Suneel Darshan, alleging Copyright Infringement. In his complaint filed against Pichai and other Google employees, Darshan said that he didn’t sell the rights of his 2017 film ‘Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha’ to anyone; however, the film is still running on YouTube (owned by Google) without his permission and with millions of views. He further claimed that many people made a lot of money by uploading his film (which falls under his Intellectual Property (IP)) on YouTube. He even mentioned that he made multiple complaints to YouTube for many years concerning the illegal uploading of his film, but didn’t receive any response, following which he had to approach the court.

According to the police officer involved, the case has been filed at the MIDC Police Station in suburban Andheri on the orders given by a magistrate’s court.

When reached out to Google for comments on the said matter, the search engine giant said that it has a well-defined set mechanism using which the copyright holders can safeguard their unique and creative content on video-sharing platforms like YouTube. The Google spokesperson said that YouTube has the right management tools, such as its Content ID System, that enables the copyright holders to identify, promote, block, and even make money in an automated way from the uploads of their content on the platform. He also mentioned that when a copyright holder notifies YouTube about a video that infringes upon his content, the platform removes the content quickly as per the law and terminates the accounts of the users with several copyright strikes (a policing practice used by YouTube to manage copyright infringement and comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

The alleged infringers covered in the complaint filed include YouTube LLC, Google India Ltd., Google LLC, Sundar Pichai, and many others. The offense has been filed under sections 51, 63, and 69 relating to Copyright Violation of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957.

The film ‘Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha’ was written, produced, and directed by Suneel Darshan and starred Natasha Fernandez, Shiv Darshan, and Upen Patel.

Meanwhile, the Indian Government has selected Sundar Pichai (the CEO of Google), Satya Nadella (the CEO of Microsoft), and Natarajan Chandrasekaran (the Chairperson of Tata Group) for Padma Bhushan, which is the third-highest civilian award in the nation. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Delhi High Court Restrains 8 Rogue Websites from Misusing the ‘Shine’ TM of HT Media

What comes as a major relief to HT Media (a Delhi-based Indian mass media company) is that the Delhi High Court (HC) has recently restrained eight rogue websites from infringing upon the trademark and copyright of the company’s job platform brand name, called ‘Shine’ as well as its website, Shine.com. Shine is an online job and recruitment portal owned by HT Media.

The company took the matter to Delhi HC, seeking damages for alleged infringement and permanent injunction against the eight rogue websites that used the brand name ‘Shine’ in an unauthorized manner. The websites deceived the general public at large by mentioning that they were in some way associated with the brand Shine and its website.

HT Media’s petition stated that the eight rogue websites in question advertised themselves as the company’s Shine job portal, especially by mirroring the website (www.shine.com) and providing paid job offers and job interviews to unsuspecting members of the public; thereby inducing them to part with their hard-earned money.

The petition further read that the online job portal Shine began receiving various complaints from the general public after they parted with such monies to the rogue websites that portrayed themselves as representatives of HT Media’s Shine and accepted monies for arranging fake jobs and job interviews on behalf of HT Media.

In a recent interim order passed, Justice Yogesh Khanna restrained the eight rogue websites in question from infringing upon HT Media’s Registered Trademarks, copyright, and other Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in any manner.

The Delhi HC even directed the internet and telecom service providers to block access to the eight rogue websites while also ordering the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) and the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) to issue notifications and guidelines to the internet and telecom service providers to this effect.

The court further asked the Economic Offences Wing and Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police to investigate well into the illicit activities of the eight rogue websites and submit a report showing the information about their true identities.

In this matter, HT Media was represented before the Delhi HC by a Delhi-based law firm and its in-house legal team. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Snoop Dogg Files Trademark Application for a Hot Dog Brand ‘Snoop Doggs’

The American songwriter, rapper, actor, entrepreneur, and social media personality Snoop Dogg has recently filed a Trademark Application for a hot dog brand known as ‘Snoop Doggs.’  Snoop Dogg’s lawyers have filed an intent-to-use trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the term ‘Snoop Doggs.’ The application states that the rapper is looking forward to using the term in question for selling hot dogs and some other types of sausages.

In 2011, Snoop Dogg had filed a similar trademark application for an ice cream venture known as ‘Snoop Scoops,’ but no products were ever released or sold under that company.

However, in 2020, the rapper launched his brand of gin known as ‘INDOGGO.’ He collaborated with the founder of Trusted Spirits (a company specializing in developing and marketing beverage alcohol brands), Keenan Towns. They came up with a ‘laid-back California style’ drink inspired by the rapper’s 1994 song known as ‘Gin and Juice.’

In 2018, Snoop Dogg broke the Guinness World Record for coming up with the largest gin and juice beverage across the globe. The drink measured more than 132 gallons and was prepared using 180 gin bottles, 154 apricot brandy bottles, and 38 orange juice jugs.

Last year in November, the rapper released ‘The Algorithm’ that marked his 19th studio album. The album also served as Snoop Dogg’s first project for Def Jam Recordings (an American multinational record label) after becoming the label’s executive creative consultant back in the same year in June.

NME’s (New Musical Express – a British film, music, and culture brand and website) Kyann-Sian Williams said in a three-star review of Snoop Dogg’s ‘The Algorithm’ album that it brings together hip-hop lovers of all ages. He further added that the album would probably appeal more to the older hip hop cynics. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Amazon Files Opposition against the Trademark Registration of ‘AWS Music’

As per a filing submitted recently with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the multinational technology company Amazon Technologies Inc. is initiating opposition proceedings against the Trademark Registration of ‘AWS Music.’ The filing states that with the registration of ‘AWS Music,’ the consumers are most likely to be deceived, confused, or mistaken into thinking that the goods or services provided under the AWS Music mark by the trademark applicant Aidan W. Schmall emerge from Amazon or are in some way endorsed by Amazon.

The 103 pages long opposition filed asserts that Amazon is an American multinational tech giant focusing on providing different services, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, digital streaming, and e-commerce. For nearly two decades now, the tech giant has been providing cloud computing services from its global data centers under Amazon Web Services (also widely referred to as AWS) brand name. The opposition filed mentions that the term AWS is used alone as well as in conjunction with other trademarks. It further states that Amazon owns 50 domestic trademark registrations and has many pending Trademark Applications for its AWS mark covering a wide range of goods and services.

The filing also sheds light on the opposer’s ‘Amazon Music’ mark and the offerings associated with it, which include entertainment services, such as video recordings, music albums, music, songs, artists, albums, photographs, film clips, amongst other multimedia material in the field of music in International Class 41.

In the opposition filed, Amazon argues by saying that the applicant’s proposed AWS Music mark would interfere with Amazon’s extant AWS marks as it is proposed to sell a similar set of services to overlapping classes of consumers and purchasers. Additionally, Amazon believes that both the marks in question are way too similar in commercial impression and appearance – due to which they are very much likely to cause consumer confusion, mistake, or deception.

Finally, Amazon’s opposition highlights the concerns that the registration of the proposed AWS Music mark would diminish the unique value of its marks and enable the trademark applicant to freeride on its hard-won goodwill. Therefore, Amazon is now requesting the court to reject the said trademark application and sustain its objection. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Buick Files Trademark Application for ‘Electra’ in Canada & The US

Buick, a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM), has recently filed a Trademark Application for ‘Electra’ with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), dated 20th December 2021. Electra is a name familiar under the Buick brand label. The application for the same is filed under the “Motor Land Vehicles, Namely, Automobiles.”

It was at Auto Shanghai (officially called the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition) last year when the automaker disclosed the concept of the Electra electric crossover. It was intended to display Buick’s brand new, minimalistic language and design, along with its electrified underpinnings. With the filing of this trademark application, there are a lot of many speculations and expectations for the American carmaker bringing over the concept into the United States, perhaps possibly in production form.

It is imperative to note in this case that Buick already filed a trademark application for ‘Electra’ back in 2012. The company held the trademark application till 2014 till the USPTO invalidated the same as neither the ‘Statement of Use’ nor the request for the ‘Extension’ was filed timely after the Notice of Allowance was issued. So, with this new trademark application, it seems as if Buick is moving ahead with the name of its upcoming electric vehicle.

The Buick Electra concept revealed in China blends the looks of a sleek GT car with a four-seat crossover. The concept’s prime highlights and features include 23-inch wheels, illuminated Buick badge, thin-slit headlights, and butterfly doors; however, as per the rumors, not all these elements would reach the production stage, if at all.

The Buick Electra AWD (All-Wheel Drive) came with 02 electric motors putting out 583 horsepower (428.796 kilowatts). It is powered and supported by Ultium batteries that enable up to 372 miles, i.e., 598.676 kilometers of range.

Electra will be sharing its platform with the Cadillac Lyriq (battery-electric crossover). It uses only a single electric motor on the rear axle to produce a power of 254 kW (340 hp) and a torque of 325 lb-ft (440 Nm). With a single charge of its 100 kWh battery, it can reach over 300 miles (482.803 km). The Lyriq Performance AWD is anticipated to offer better numbers, which could be pretty close to what the Electra has promised in its concept form. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Samsung Files Patent for Hybrid Smartphone Design Capable of Folding & Sliding

As per various recent reports, the South Korean multinational corporation – Samsung is presently working on a hybrid smartphone design that can both roll and fold. The tech giant has filed a Patent Application for the same with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and it dates back to this year in June. The new hybrid smartphone design comprises both folding and rolling mechanisms. Samsung is already manufacturing foldable smartphones like Galaxy Z Flip3 and Fold3, both of which are readily available in the market. However, the corporation has not yet come up with a rollable smartphone.

Although many other companies and tech giants, in particular, have filed patent applications for rollable and foldable smartphones, Samsung is the first to file a patent application for a smartphone that is both rollable and foldable at the same time. As per the pictures that were spotted in the publication, the patent application depicts a smartphone with a rollable screen. What seems like is the smartphone is designed to roll out first and then fold in half.

According to what’s specified in the patent application, the design of this hybrid smartphone is defined as an electronic device that could conveniently carry out folding and sliding operations. The display screen can conveniently be slid to increase the size and folded at an angle. For making such a design functional, the smartphone shall consist of a hinge, used for folding, and a motor, used for sliding. These two mechanisms already exist individually in other smartphones available in the market. Along with this new patent, the tech giant is rumored to come up with its Flip4 and Fold4 devices during the third quarter of next year.

Currently, Samsung is one of the few companies that hold expertise in manufacturing fully-functional, real-life foldable smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 and Fold3 are considered the best-selling foldable smartphones across the globe. For manufacturing a smartphone with folding capabilities, the tech giant had to experiment a lot with different display materials and types. It did struggle to a great extent initially as its Galaxy Fold didn’t have a stable design, but now the company has improved immensely in this aspect.

Also, Samsung might be looking forward to incorporating curved screen technology into its smartwatches. The tech giant filed a new patent application this year on 2nd June with WIPO, covering the design of a smartwatch with a camera and rollable display. The application consists of 96 pages full of information and design plans for a rollable smartwatch. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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USPTO Proposes Electronic Patent Issuance to Speed Up the Process

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently in its Federal Register published a public rulemaking notice proposing that it wants to stop the mailing of issued patents to the inventors.

As part of this proposed change, the USPTO would issue all patents electronically using its patent document viewing systems, i.e., Patent Center and Patent Application Image Retrieval (PAIR). According to the notice, patents would go paperless, i.e., no longer issued on paper. Consequently, patents would no longer be mailed to any address of record submitted during the patent issuance process.

The USPTO said in a recent statement delivered that this proposed change, done via a digital seal, will shave two weeks off the time to patent issuance.

The notice reads that once the patent number and issuance date are assigned, electronic patent publication would lead to electronic patent issuance under the USPTO seal and along with the Director’s signature within only one week, in place of three weeks. It further mentions that by putting an end to the assembling, printing, and mailing of a paper patent upon its issuance, the USPTO would conveniently reduce the pendency of every issued patent application by roughly two weeks. In this way, the patent applicants and the public at large would undoubtedly benefit from the time saved. Additionally, the notice states that the patentees would easily be able to view and print their electronically issued patents, along with their cover sheets, via the USPTO’s patent document viewing systems, instead of waiting for their paper patent to arrive in their mail.

As per the public stats put forward by the USPTO, the office issued 388,900 patents last year, out of which 352,049 were 20-year utility patents.

The public is most welcome to comment on the proposed change by 14th February 2022.

No rule change as of now would be required to implement similar changes to Trademark Registration certificates; however, the USPTO still looks forward to soliciting public feedback concerning its proposal to replace paper trademark registration certificates with digital versions. Presently, the USPTO issues 6,000 to 9,000 printed trademark registration certificates every week; therefore, the change would significantly reduce the paper processing and associated costs.

The notice also states that stakeholders who still may want the paper ‘presentation copies’ of their issued patents and trademark registration certificates can get the same with an embossed gold seal and the Director’s signature in exchange for a nominal fee of $25 per copy. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Big Win for Farmers – India Revokes Patent Rights for PepsiCo Inc’s Lay’s Potato Chips

It was two years ago when PepsiCo India had provoked outrage by suing nine farmers from Gujarat for allegedly infringing upon the Patent Rights by growing its registered potato variety, and now, recently, the company’s registration has been revoked by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights’ Authority (PPV&FRA).

The Convener at the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, Kavitha Kuruganti, said this judgment is undoubtedly a historic win for the Indian farmers. She further added that the judgment would prevent any other food or seed corporation from misbehaving with the legally granted farmers’ seed freedom in India. Ms. Kuruganti had filed the petition to revoke PepsiCo’s registration.

PepsiCo did review this recent judgment but declined to give any further comments.

The PPV&FRA questioned the documents submitted by PepsiCo, which claimed that the food giant was the owner of the potato variety and could therefore be considered the registered breeder under the law. The Authority accepted Ms. Kuruganti’s contention, according to which many farmers were put to hardship in this case, along with the threatening possibility of having to pay an enormous penalty on the purported instance of infringement they were supposed to have been committing. As per the order issued by K.V. Prabhu (the Chairperson at PPV&FRA), the same violates public interest.

Used in Lay’s potato chips, the FL-2027 variety of potatoes came into the limelight two years ago in April when it became the center of interest in the David v. Goliath dispute in the potato belt of northern Gujarat. It was 2009 when the potato variety was introduced in India. It was grown by somewhere around 12,000 farmers, with whom PepsiCo had an exclusive agreement corresponding to selling the seeds and buying back the produce. In 2016, PepsiCo registered the potato variety under the PPV&FR Act, 2001.

According to PepsiCo’s infringement lawsuit filed under the Act against nine farmers in Gujarat, including a Rs 4.2 crore lawsuit filed against four small farmers, many farmers who were not involved in the ‘collaborative farming program’ were also growing and selling this variety in the state.

Amidst the critical election season, boycott threats and widespread protests by different political and farmers’ groups forced the government of Gujarat to intervene, thereby pushing PepsiCo to withdraw all cases in May 2019. In the same year, in June, Ms. Kuruganti had then applied to revoke the food giant’s registration.

Shalini Bhutani (a legal researcher and agriculture Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) expert) saluted the judgment as a precedent. She said that the Authority’s acceptance of Ms. Kuruganti’s revocation application (including the grounds of the same being against the public interest) sends an important signal concerning the aspect that farmers’ rights cannot be taken lightly by the IP rights holders in the country.

Kapil Shah, a member of the Kisan Beej Adhikar Manch and one of the activists who spearheaded the initial protests in Gujarat, said in a recent statement delivered that both the Authority and the Government do have a responsibility to make all registrants and applicants under the PPV&FR Act understand well that their rights do not supersede the farmers’ rights. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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EdTech Company upGrad Sues Scaler Alleging Trademark Infringement

EdTech firm, upGrad, has recently filed a Trademark Infringement lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against its fellow EdTech company called Scaler. According to upGrad, Scaler has violated the Intellectual Property (IP) related to its trademark. The company has now sought damages worth more than rupees three crores.

upGrad has accused Scaler of illegally using its business/brand name, i.e., ‘upGrad,’ on Google Ads to appear on top of the search results on Google, thereby gaining illicit benefits.

As per a recent press statement issued, the Delhi High Court, in this case, has granted an ad-interim injunction in upGrad’s favor. Also, until further notice, the Court has ordered Scaler not to bid on the Registered Trademarks (or any other variants) owned by upGrad using Google Ads or any other keyword program.

The CEO (India) at upGrad, Arjun Mohan, said in a recent statement that the lawsuit filed would ensure the protection of upGrad’s IP and trademarks and would also discourage unauthorized and unlawful usage in the future. He further said that upGrad has undoubtedly made considerable investments in building its brand name, which makes it even more essential for them to safeguard their rights. He also mentioned that the team at upGrad is looking forward to evaluating and filing trademark infringement lawsuits against other EdTech firms involved in similar Google Ads bidding activity.

Quite recently, the Delhi High Court, in a similar Google Ads lawsuit, granted an interim injunction in favor of MakeMyTrip (an Indian online travel company headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana) and against its competitor, HappyEasyGo (an online platform that caters to act as a one-stop solution for travel needs). In the same lawsuit and as part of the recent orders passed, the Court also directed Google to suspend/block the Google Ads account owned by HappyEasyGo.

In another lawsuit filed on similar grounds by DRS Logistics (one of the most trusted names in India in the field of logistics and transport), the Delhi High Court said that Google could never really exonerate itself from the liability of ensuring that a specific keyword doesn’t infringe upon a registered trademark. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Display Social Completes Acquisition of Patent & IP from LookWithUs

Display Social Inc. (an online social media and networking service, widely known as ‘Social That Pays’) has recently announced its acquisition of a patent from LookWithUs (a Los-Angeles based powerful platform that specializes in combining collaborations and social communications for the digital content). The Intellectual Property (IP) owned by LookWithUs covers collaboration on any digital object out there and enables the integration of rich media that could be text, voice, images, video, files, documents, hyperlinks, and so on.

LookWithUs was founded by a talented team of media and tech experts. The company wanted to discover a modern, web-enabled, and social communication platform that would go beyond the limited collaboration systems and reflect the way using which people interact, communicate, and collaborate with others in their day-to-day lives. The robust software architecture and IP, which now belongs to the portfolio of Display Social, presents a complete suite of new tools for creators and developers on the app. It would allow them to embed and share collaborations across the globe via the Display Social platform and the much expected and awaited Display metaverse.

The Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Display Social, John Acunto, said in a recent statement delivered that the company is unlocking the enormous power of collaboration and introducing a fundamental transformation in the way people usually communicate, share content with others, and create value. He further mentioned that it is a critically important step in their shared journey to a brand new form of social commerce using which influencers and innovators belonging to different levels of the economy can extract benefits directly from their energy, passion, and creativity, which is undoubtedly exciting and thrilling.

The CEO at LookWithUs, Mark Smith, said they had been looking for a company with an objective and roadmap that matched their own and provided the next-generation platform to deliver that objective – and they found it in Display Social. He further stated that the company is elated to join an incredible team of innovators at Display Social that would leverage and scale their technology. LookWithUs is immensely proud today to see their powerful IP and other tools integrated throughout the Display Social platform.

The metaverse capabilities will certainly prove to be a success story for Display Social as it would enable brands and creators alike to interact well with one another. The IP offers the tools that help marketers and creators in generating virtual microsites and distributing them all over the internet by using simple hyperlinks. The same could then be embedded in websites, used on different social media platforms, implemented via email campaigns for blogs, coupons, NFTs, shopping links, and even other areas of the metaverse itself; thereby, allowing Display Social to play an integral part in everyone’s digital journey.

In the present era, content creators increasingly expect social media networks to treat them fairly and impartially – for which Display Social differentiates itself from others in the industry by rewarding creators as per their advertising and affiliate revenue. It empowers creators with build-in tools to enhance the creative processes, which, in turn, helps them grow their audience and engage well with them. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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