Overlapping of Intellectual Property Rights

In the case of Mukul Goyal v. Union of India and Ors., Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act has been brought under the scanner and has been contended by the petitioner to be ultra vires. As per Section 15(2), any artistic piece that is capable of being registered as a design, but has not so been registered, will lose its copyright protection the moment it has been reproduced more than 50 times. The petitioner has contended that S. 15(2) and 2(d) infringes his right to carry out his trade under Article 19(1)(g). Also Article 14 is violated as S. 15 imposes arbitrary restriction and the number of reproductions-50, is without any rationality.

As per Microfibres v. Giridhar, copyrighted artistic works simpliciter would not be hit by S. 15)2) while design works would be hit. This results in ambiguity due to overlapping Intellectual Rights. 

One solution can be to protect the original designs as artistic works under copyright law and amending the Copyright Act to ensure that any artistic work produced industrially more than 50 times is granted protection for only 15 years.

-Shambhavi Mishra

Crocs chasing Bata

Footwear giant Crocs has initiated legal action in India against Bata and a number of other footwear brands including Coqui, Suncorp Exim (for Warner Bros, clogs), Relaxo and Bioworld. Crocs is known for its Swiss cheese-style shoes and has contended that the above mentioned brands have imitated its design. The design of Clogs, its holed, foam-like shoe has been used by these brands to sell their products at a very cheaper rate as compared to price at which they are sold by Crocs. Clogs accounts for more than half of the Colorado-based company's global sales.

Crocs has filed a case in the District Court of Delhi and has obtained interim reliefs of injunction. Most of the cases have now been transferred to the Delhi high court by virtue of applicable statutory provisions. The rulings have subsequently resulted in raids across various stores, including that of Bata's in Delhi and NCR.


-Shambhavi Mishra