Trademark Registry Hikes Registration Fee, Makes Trademark Search Free

India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has introduced two major changes on 13^th January with respect to trademark search and fees payable for trademark applications.

One change is the fee hike which was previously Rs. 2,500 for filing one trademark application in one class, now it’s going to be Rs. 3,500. This has been made to compensate the loss that may be incurred for making the trademark search free. The trademark search before this amendment was Rs. 500 for a single search and now that the search has been made free, anyone can access this trademark database from any part of the world.
 
The official fees for filing a trademark application in a single class has been increased from Rs. 2,500 (approximately $55) to Rs. 3,500 (approximately $78), with effect from December 29, 2010. Therefore, going forward, the official fees for filing a trademark registration application in a single class will be Rs. 3,500.

The Supreme Court Sets aside the Judgement of the Kerela High Court for rationalising, humanising and simplifying the procedure in Criminal Courts.

A three judge bench of the Supreme Court reversesd and order of the High Court of Kerala in Crl. M.C. No. 1977 of 2007 for issuing directions to trial courts, in cases under Sec 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881. For us, the order of the Kerela High Court is yet another instance, where in their anxiety to do justice, the courts have gone overboard. Call it judicial law making, or simply a judgment per incuriam. The judgement of the Supreme Court Can be read here

On 17th November, 2008, while granting leave in this matter, a bench of two learned judges referred the instant case to a larger Bench, posing the following question for determination:

"...One of the questions which arises for consideration in this special leave petition is as to whether the High court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Sections 482 and 483 of the Code of the Criminal Procedure and/or under Article 227 of the Constitution of India could issue guidelines directing all courts taking cognizance of offences under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act inter alia to invoke the discretion under Section 205 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and only with a further direction that summons under Section 205 shall be issued at the first instance..."

Briefly stated, the genesis of the dispute is that on a complaint filed under Section 138 of the N.I. Act and On being summoned by the Magistrate, the accused preferred a petition before the High Court of Kerela under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (for short "the Code"), inter alia, praying for dispensing with her personal appearance before the Magistrate. 

Environmental Ministry May Consider Approving Lavasa

ET reports a rather unfortunate move by the Environment Ministry of approving Lavasa Corporation's hill township project, even though the construction is unauthorized and is in grave violation of Environmental Laws. The terms and conditions imposed on Lavasa include the payment of substantial penalty for violating environmental norms and the setting up of an independent environment restoration fund.

Trident (Legal Firm) takes its readers back to the genesis of the controversy.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a show cause notice dated 25.11.2010 under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act for violating the provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) 1994 as amended in 2004 & 2006 to Lavasa Corporation Ltd. The original show cause is available here.

The notification as originally stood introduced environment clearance by the State or the Central Government and imposed restrictions and prohibitions on the expansion and modernization of any activity or undertaking of new projects. In 2004 , new construction projects were brought within the ambit of the notification and construction projects which were undertaken without obtaining the clearance under the original notification and where construction work had not come up to the plinth level, required approval with effect from 7th July 2004. Also in the same notification new industrial estates which were undertaken without a clearance or where work did not commence or where the expenditure did not exceed 25% of the total sanctioned costs were also brought within the ambit of the notification .

Vodafone lodges protest to Essar reverse merger scheme pending approval at Chennai HC

Readers would recollect that the Essar group had planned to merge Essar Telecom Holdings ( a subsidiary of Essar , which holds 11% in Vodafone Essar) with India Securities Ltd, to create a backdoor entry for investment in Essar.

Reacting to this the U.K Based Company Vodafone has conveyed its protest to SEBI, BSE and the Chennai HC regarding the reverse merger scheme proposed by its JV partner Essar. Though Essar has a put option to divest its stake of 33% at $5 bn to Vodafone till May, it has proposed reverse merger of 11% into India Securities Ltd.

The prime concern of Vodafone is that shareholders of India Securities Ltd. lacked sufficient information to appropriately value the stake.

Economic times reports that as per the agreement, Essar can offer its entire 33% in Vodafone Essar for $5 Billion, but should it tender less than that, the stake would be independently valued by bankers. Thus the 11% stake in India Securities Ltd may have a different value than a third of the put option value of $5 billion.

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SC admits appeals by Pepsico and BIS in 'Aquafina' 'Purity Guranteed' labelling case

SC has admitted the cross appeals filed by Pepsico and BIS over the former's packaged water brand 'Aquafina'. In Nov, 2008, Delhi HC had asked Pepsico to remove the picture of snow capped mountain from the bottle's label, and use words like 'pure', 'refreshing' etc. as per BIS guidelines.The judgement can be read here


Bureau of Indian Standards moved an LPA aginst of the impugned judgment and order dated 08.05.2006 delivered by the Learned Single Judge,in Writ Petition  no 20909 of 2005 whereby it was held that the use of the words PURE , CRISP , REFRESHING , PURIFIED AND PURITY GUARANTEED and the pictorial depiction of snow-capped mountain and the sun on the label of  Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. for packaged drinking water, was not misleading, and was not prohibited by any law.


The basic premise of the LPA was whether the pictorial device SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAIN and the expression PURITY GUARANTEED as used in the label creates confusion in the mind of general public regarding the origin nature, composition and properties of the product and suggest that the origin of the water being in the mountains. 

Delhi Lokayukta files appeal against restraint order in corruption probe on IAS officers

Delhi Lokayukta has filed an appeal before a division bench of the Delhi HC, challenging single judge order of Nov 22, 2010 (Murlidhar J. in W.P. (C) Nos. 1136 and 3342 of 2010 & W.P. (C) No. 3345 of 2010), that the Lokayukta has no jurisdiction to probe IAS officers as they enjoy immunity under Delhi Lokayukta Act. The case involved corruption complaints against 3 IAS officers.

The Delhi Lokayukta and Upalokayukta Act, 1995 make provision for the establishment and functioning of the Institution of Lokayukta to inquire into the allegations against public functionaries in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. 

public functionary' under Section 2(m) reads as under:

2. Definitions: - In this Act, unless the context otherwise require "Public functionary" means a person who is or has been at any time-

(i) the Chief Minister or a Minister;

(ii) a Member of Legislative Assembly;

(iii) a person having the rank of a Minister but shall not include Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly;

BANDA RAPE CASE

SC agrees to look into plea for judicial probe in Banda rape case.

A three judge bench of the SC will hear a plea on Friday, seeking judicial probe into rape of a poor minor girl by a ruling MLA, and her subsequent harassment and incarceration on theft charges. The girl was recently released from jail on the intervention of the Allahabad HC. She was  arrested on charges of theft by police and sent to jail. However, the CB-CID in its report said that theft charges against her were not true after which she was released from the jail.

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INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES UNDER TAX SCANNERS

ONSHORE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT NOT ELIGIBLE FOR TAX DEDUCTION AS SOFTWARE EXPORTS. ALSO RAISES CONCERN OF DUAL BENEFIT ISSUES .

     

Tax dept has raised an order of tax for Rs 400 Crore on Infosys Technologies. The order has claimed that deputing software professionals through a Deputation and Technical Manpower Contract (DMT) in other countries (body shopping) for onshore development is not an eligible activity for claiming tax deduction u/s 10A/ 10AA of the IT Act. The sections concerned relate to tax-free incomes arising out of exports.

The Tax demand was based for the assessment year 2007-2008, and similar demands could be raised for more years and for other software exporters as well.

SUPREME COURT UPHOLD LEVY OF EXCISE DUTY ON PHYSICIAN SAMPLES OF DRUGS

SC has held that excise duty is payable even on drug samples supplied free of cost to doctors for promotional purposes. It dismissed the appeals of a pharmaceutical company, Medley Pharma, that physician samples are not excisable goods since they are not for sale under Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

The case is interesting as when physician samples of patent and proprietory medicines, at the time they are manufactured, are statutorily prohibited from being sold by virtue of Section 18 of the Drugs Act read with Rule 65(18) of the Drug Rules and the breach of the Drug Rules invites prosecution under Section 27(d) of the Drugs Act, and also invites penalty under Section 27(c) of the Drugs Act.`excisable goods' has been construed to mean not only goods specified in the Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, but also goods which are capable of being sold i.e. marketable.

JUSTICE KATJU REMINDS LAWYERS THEIR PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

For all lawyers, who have had the opportunity to appear before Justice Katju, a re-enforcement and reminder of professional ethics of  to mediate disputes, in an order passed by him in S.L.P. (Civil) No. 2896 of 2010.

                                                          

“...I saw that the facts of Dada Abdulla's case made it a very strong indeed, and that the law was bound to be on his side. But I also saw that the litigation, if it were persisted in, would ruin the Plaintiff and the Defendant, who were relatives and both belonged to the same city. No one knew how long the case might go on. Should it be allowed to continue to be fought out in court, it might go on indefinitely and to no advantage of either party. Both, therefore, desired an immediate termination of the case, if possible.

I approached Tyeb Sheth and requested and advised him to go to arbitration. I recommended him to see his counsel. I suggested to him that if an arbitrator commanding the confidence of both parties could be appointed, the case would be quickly finished. The lawyers' fees were so rapidly mounting up that they were enough to devour all the resources of the clients, big merchants as they were.

Colony RWA initiates contempt proceedings against VIPs over encroahed land

Citibank is striving to resolve issues arising from the fraud perpetrated by a relationship manager of Gurgaon branch on unsuspecting customers. The bank has issued a statement saying that it is in touch with customers affected by the fraud and working towards awarding them fair compensation.

IT demand on GE R&D unit creates uncertainty regarding taxability of income of such units.

IT department has raised a demand for Rs 64 Crores from GE India Technology Centre for 2007-08, for claiming deduction u/s 10A of the IT Act for income from software exports. The dept wants to know how a unit which employs scientists for R&D activities has claimed deduction u/s 10A.

Compensation for land acquisition should be based on fair market value, rules SC

SC has ruled that fair market value of the land in the neighbourhood, and not auction price should be the criteria for determining compensation in land acquisition cases. Auction prices are not fair indicators, as distress sale by banks or courts depresses the price, while open auction inflates it.

PERJURY TRIALS REVIVED IN THE JESSICAL LALL MURDER CASE

"You can't allow anyone to come in, tell lies and walk off smiling from court," was Justice Sodhi's reaction after the SC verdict. Sodhi convicted Manu Sharma in HC and initiated the separate perjury proceedings.


Delhi police has submitted to the Delhi HC, a copy of the SC verdict in Jessica Lall case convicting Manu Sharma for murder, to revive perjury proceedings against witnesses like Bollywood actor Shyan Munshi, ballistic experts Roop Singh and Prem Sagar, electrician Shiv Shankar Dass amongst others, who turned hostile during the trial and changed their statements in court. 


The perjury proceedings had been halted while the SC was seized of the matter. standing counsel Pawan Sharma informed HC that SC hasn't dropped proceedings against them. Therefore, HC can now begin hearing the case. Following the submission, HC has posted the matter for February 18. In its 2006 verdict reversing the trial court acquittal, HC had asked the hostile witnesses before it to explain why they shouldn't be charged with perjury.

Justice G S Sistani deferrs the hearing of the Jangpura RWA contempt petition to March 1

Jangpura RWA has moved Delhi HC for contempt proceedings against Delhi CM and the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, for instigating a mob to trespass on DDA land, offering prayers and carrying on construction. DDA had failed to fence the area after demolishing an illegal religious structure.

On Saturday, through its counsel, R K Saini, the RWA also sought initiation of suo motu contempt proceedings against Shoaib Iqbal, MLA of Matia Mahal constituency, and Asif Mohd Khan, who represents Okhla in the assembly, besides the CM and Bukhari.

Invoking a famous SC ruling (' Be that you may be as high, the law is above you' ), the RWA has urged the high court to take strong action against those named. It alleged that all those named, "by their actions and words, scandalized and lowered the authority of the court, interfered with the due course of judicial process, interfered and obstructed the administration of justice and brought into disrepute the honour , majesty and authority of the law and the courts."

Anil Ambani group companies Reliance Infra and RNRL settles a SEBI probe into possible violation of securities market norms

Anil Ambani group companies Reliance Infra and RNRL on Friday settled a SEBI probe into possible violation of securities market norms by them for a collective settlement charge of Rs 50 crore.

In a consent order passed today, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said that it has agreed to settle the case after the two companies agreed to its certain terms and conditions, including the payment of settlement charges.

The consent order, as available in the "SEBI", website is available here.

On receipt of information that the amounts raised towards external commercial borrowings (ECB)/ Foreign currency convertible bonds by the ADA group companies had been used by them for investment in the stock market and the investment vehicles abroad were used as a means for the same. The scope of the investigation was

Cadbury India revises its compulsory share buyback offer

Cadbury India has sent a higher revised buyback offer to minority shareholders. After its takeover by Kraft Foods, Cadbury had initiated a compulsory buyback in India, but shareholders were not happy with price. They had approached Bombay HC, which had appointed E&Y for share valuation.

SC to proceed with contempt proceedings against Prashant Bhushan

SC has decided to go ahead with contempt proceedings against lawyer Prashant Bhushan, as he has refused to apologise for some remarks on the current CJI. The lawyer has contended that his remarks were misconstrued as imputation of financial corruption.

Half Of The Last 16 Chief Justices Were Corrupt’

The decision to declare assets is a big victory. Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan tells Shoma Caudhary, what else is rotting in our judiciary

It’s great judges have agreed to declare assets. But will it really help? Politicians do it too.
This decision is very welcome, even if it’s only happened under public pressure. It is proof of the power of public opinion. And even though declaring assets is a relatively minor aspect of judicial accountability, it will help. If a judge misdeclares his assets, there’s a chance someone might know he has particular properties he hasn’t declared, and may point it out. One could then examine if these can be explained within their legal income.

The debate around judicial accountability has got really hot. Are there watershed events that triggered this? 
Not in my own perception, but I think for the public there were two watershed events – the Chief Justice Sabharwal case (where there was an allegation that Chief Justice YS Sabharwal’s orders to demolish commercial outlets in Delhi directly benefited his sons, who were partners with some mall developers) and the Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam. Both these cases got wide media attention. A 2006 Transparency International report said the judiciary in India is the second most corrupt institution after the police.