Intellectual property (IP) disputes have increased tremendously. As more and more individuals and organisations have started asserting their IP claims, litigation and court cases have also increased.
At the international level, the international trade commission (ITC) has recently held that Apple and Microsoft did not violate the patent rights of Google. Kim Dotcom has accused Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc, of violating his two-step authentication patent.
Mozilla has also issued a cease-and-desist notice to Gamma International for maliciously using its brand and reputation. The Japanese Company Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has also accused Chinese Company CSR Sifang of stealing its Shinkansen Bullet Trains.
The U.K. Supreme Court has also decided that storing of cache on a user's computer of the copyright-protected work is not copyright infringement. Similarly, the supreme court of India also held that Novartis has no patent rights in its product Glivec. U.S. Pharmaceutical Company Merck Sharp and Dohme's (MSD) have also appealed before Division Bench of Delhi High Court.
On the Trademark and Domain-Name fronts, India has submitted Instrument of Accession to the Madrid Protocol for International Registration of Marks. In a domain-squatting case, Tata Sons And Tata Infotech won domain-name lawsuit against Arno Palmen. The objection and dispute resolution for ICANN's new GTLDs registrations is also in full swing. The Financial Times and Times of India are also fighting trademark battle in Supreme Court of India.
On the legislation front, the recent Indian Copyright Amendment Act, 2012 (CAA 2012), has incorporated provisions related to digital-rights management. These include protection of technological measures used by copyright owners and making their unauthorised circumventions punishable under the Copyright Act. Similarly, the proposed U.S. legislation would target companies using stolen intellectual property of U.S.
This trend of protection of IP is going to be more severe in future. The IP-portfolio management in India and online-brand protection in India is going to be a trick issue and individuals and companies must keep this trend in mind.
