The $1 Oscar: Can Contract and IP Quietly Create Illusory Ownership?

/ By / Copyright, Trademark

The Oscar statuette may look like a personal trophy, but legally, it is something far more controlled. Through a contractual regime supported by intellectual property considerations, the Academy has ensured that an Oscar cannot become an ordinary tradable asset. Soundarya Lakshmi K examines how the Academy’s famous “$1 rule” blurs the boundaries between contract, property, and IP law, while also questioning whether Indian courts would uphold similar restrictions on ownership and transfer. Soundarya Lakshmi is a PhD Research Scholar at […]

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Shooting The Second Suit: Castrol v Sonavane & The Application of Order II Rule 2

/ By / Trademark

IP disputes rarely unfold in neat, linear ways, and Castrol v. Sanjay Sonavane is a case in point. Faced with a fast-evolving conflict spanning threats, raids, and a coordinated media campaign, Castrol had to navigate a tricky procedural question: one suit or many? In this post, Naman Singh examines the Delhi High Court’s answer and why its nuanced take on “cause of action” under Order II Rule 2 CPC carries significance well beyond the facts of the case. Naman is

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An Unreasoned Refusal and a Wrongly Used Provision: Huntington v Union of India and Atomic Energy Patents

/ By / Patent

Lack of reasons in IPO’s orders as a broader issue on one side, and add to it the context of atomic energy-related patents: you have a situation where refusal of patent applications becomes a hotly contested topic. This post  is about a recent Bombay HC judgment (Huntington Alloys v UOI) concerning the refusal of a patent application under Section 4 of the Patents Act. Arising out of a writ petition, the judgment held the government respondents to task; the Court

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SpicyIP Bells & Whistles: IP Events and Opportunities (04.05.2026)

/ By / Courses & Workshops, Opportunities

Welcome back to another week of Bells & Whistles. As always, we’ve rounded up a mix of developments, opportunities and thoughtful reads from across the IP world along with a Bell of the Week that’s well worth revisiting. Bell of the Week: Martha Woodmansee Some bells do not just chime, they change how we understand creation itself. This week’s bell is for someone whose work has shaped how many of us think about authorship and its relationship with intellectual property. Ever

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (April 27- May 3)

/ By / Copyright, Geographical Indication, Patent, Trademark

[This Weekly Review is authored by Naman Singh. Naman is an LLB (Hons.) student at National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. Having a background in music, film, and media, He enjoys all things at the intersection of IP and law.] The call for applications for SPARC Cohort 1 is now open! This week, marking the end of April, also saw a batch of interesting discussions that ranged from lapsed trademarks, generics production, the needed evolution of the GI tag

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Launching the SpicyIP Academy Research Clinic (SPARC)!

/ By / Opportunities, Others

The call for applications for SPARC Cohort 1 is now open!  We are delighted to announce the launch of SPARC, the SpicyIP Academy Research Clinic SPARC is our dedicated attempt at bridging the accessibility gap to structured peer review that a large number of Indian IP researchers currently face. We understand that substantive, expert feedback during the early and middle stages of research is still limited to a small number of well-resourced institutions. SPARC is our effort to build a

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Dead Marks, Live Assets – The Case for a Registry Supervised Auction of Lapsed Trademarks in India

/ By / Trademark

India’s trademark register is quietly bleeding value. Each year, marks with real commercial recall lapse not because they’ve lost relevance, but because renewal deadlines are missed, erasing years of built goodwill from the legal record. In this post, Lakshmidevi Somanath argues that instead of letting these assets vanish, India should rethink its approach and create a system to recycle lapsed trademarks back into the market. Lakshmidevi Somanath is a Partner – Litigation & Strategy in Anand and Anand and former

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‘Venetoclax’ at the IPO: Why Generics Need More than Patent Refusals

/ By / Patent

How much of a win is a patent rejection for domestic generics production? In this post, I discuss the specific points of IPO’s refusal as a continuation of Indian patent jurisprudence on Section 3(d), and why, irrespective of the essentiality of patent law to the discourse on generics, contrary to news reports, a single patent refusal alone is not sufficient in improving access to cancer therapies. The Making of a Blockbuster Drug Venetoclax is a blockbuster cancer drug jointly developed

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Surat Cut GI tag for Diamond and Terroir: an Unfinished Love Story

/ By / Geographical Indication

The newly granted Surat Cut diamond GI tag promises to recognise craftsmanship, skill, and one of India’s most remarkable industrial success stories. But can a legal framework built to protect places truly capture value created by mobile communities whose expertise travels across borders? Writing on this development, Niharika Salar explores how the Surat GI both advances and exposes the limits of India’s geographical indications regime, where the real story may be less about land and more about labour. Niharika is

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Journalistic Expression or Commercial Shaming? When Media Criticism Meets Commercial Disparagement Law

/ By / Copyright

In a clash between legacy broadcast media and digital watchdog journalism, the Delhi High Court’s ruling in TV Today v. Newslaundry confronts a difficult modern question: when does sharp media criticism become actionable commercial disparagement? Naman Singh writes that while the judgment offers important clarifications on interim injunctions, it leaves unresolved the deeper tension between reputational protection and press freedom. Naman is an LLB (Hons.) student at National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. Having a background in music, film,

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