Intellectual Property (IP) Disputes Have Increased Immensely

  Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have gained incredible significance these days and both individuals and companies are doing their level best to defend and enforce the same. As a result, the IP disputes are increasing world over and India has also seen a growth in IPR related disputes.
 
 
 
IPRs like trade secrets, patents, copyright, trademarks, etc have become vital for the expansion and growth of various businesses. Add to it the domain names and you cover the cyberspace and techno legal field too.
 
 
 
Intellectual property (IP) disputes have increased significantly. As more and more individuals and organisations have started vindicating their IP claims, the litigation and court cases have also augmented.
 
 
 
At the international level, the international trade commission (ITC) has just 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 rights.
 
 
 
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 temporary and automatic storing of cache on a users 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) has 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.