Yet another attempt has been made by the legislative authorities to reduce the number of frivolous cases and expedite the disposal of cases on dishonour of cheques by amending the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (“Act”) to provide interim relief to the genuine/bona-fide complaints. The amendment is an attempt to help trade and commerce in general by allowing lending institutions, including banks, to continue to extend financial support to the productive sectors of economy.>>
The Department of Telecommunication has released the Draft National Digital Communications Policy[i] (“The Policy”) on the May 1st 2018, and has invited public comments on the same. This policy aims to accomplish objectives such as broadband for all, creating 4 million additional jobs, enhancing contribution to GDP, achieve better ranking in ICT index, provide digital sovereignty and such other goals by 2022. In pursuit of India’s transition to a digitally empowered economy and society, the policy envisages following three missions:>>
Multiple news portals [1] recently carried a rather bizarre but interesting trademark news. They quoted an Italian newspaper report that two Italian brothers had won a trademark case against Apple Inc. over the mark “Steve Jobs” before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).>>
From a tax perspective, 2017 was eventful for India. It witnessed application of GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rules) from April 1, 2017, shifting of the indexation base year from 1981 to 2001[1] for the purpose of capital gains taxation, reduction in corporate tax rate to 25 % for companies having a turnover less than INR 50 Crores among various other tax reforms.>>
The SEBI, the capital market regulator in India had simplified and combined all portfolio investments under a common regulation in the year 2014 and collectively named them as Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI). In terms of USD, net investments by FPI during 2016-17 both including in equity and debt was at USD 7,177 million demonstrating deep interest of foreign investors in Indian Capital Market.>>
Recently, while researching for a talk on IP strategies for start-ups, I realised that Intellectual Property (IP) experts tend to view this topic through pretty much the same lens through which they see IP for any other entity. Almost every article related to the topic of “IP for start-ups” essentially covered the importance of IP in general without distinguishing the fact that start-ups are different from larger, more established entities. While advising start-ups on IP, experts generally try to push start-ups to create and protect IP, ignoring their life-stage, financial situation and process maturity.>>
Year 2017 has turned out to be one of the most happening years in the history of Indian Trademark Law, which is not only for the progression of Start-ups, but also for the awareness, digitalization, effective processing and speedy registrations of Trademarks. The former year having undergone a sea of change with respect to legislative changes, faster processing of applications and a more transparent and digital friendly approach towards protection of Trademarks, demands a quick recap on some of highlights of 2017.>>
The year of 2017 saw some major developments in the Indian Copyright system, of which the merger of the Copyright Board with the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (“IPAB”) through the Finance Act, 2017 (came into force on 1st April 2017) was a significant highlight. As part of the Finance Act, 2017, certain sections of the The Copyright Act, 1957 (hereinafter, “the Act”) and The Trade Marks Act, 1999, were also amended, to primarily replace the Copyright Board with the Appellate Board, and related references, with a view to create a single forum. >>
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