Law College Dehradun, organized a National Webinar on ‘Trademark Litigation- An Overview of Concepts’ on 22nd July, 2020 with Mr. Waseem Shuaib Ahmed as the Keynote Speaker. Mr. Ahmed, Senior Associate, INTTL ADVOCARE, graduated from the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (NUJS) in 2014. He discovered his interest in IP Laws during his studies at NUJS. Today, he works on contentious trade mark, industrial design and copyright matters, apart from handling trade mark opposition proceedings. He also has experience in IP licensing and transactional issues.
The insightful Technical Session, began with the Welcome Address by the Vice Chancellor (officiating)/ Dean, Law College Dehradun- Prof. (Dr.) Rajesh Bahuguna. The session commenced with Mr. Ahmed giving a brief introduction about the structure of the day’s webinar following which he proceeded explaining the basic concepts of trademark registration and trademark litigation. He explained the definitions of “trade mark” and “mark” as laid under Sec. 2(1)(zb) and Sec.2(1)(m) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 respectively. Lending a better understanding to the audience, he gave examples of renowned brands and companies explaining minute details important to trademarks and the significance they hold. Mr. Ahmed proceeded with the session examining trademark registration process, explaining its basic concepts and throwing light on the Indian position regarding the same. Then, he discussed Trademark Litigation. He explained how legal aid for trademark infringement has itself been provided under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 with special reference to Sections 28, 29 and 135(1). He stated that relief for a trademark infringement can be granted in the form of an injunction or damages. He also discussed with the audience the approach adopted by the courts while dealing with disputes involving trademarks. In this light, he also enlightened the audience with the concept of “Deceptive Similarity” categorizing the same into Visual and Phonetic.
The latter half of the event had the Keynote Speaker taking up doubts and queries of the participants. The webinar attracted participation from students, academicians and professionals from all over India. Queries were regarding: Using signatures as trademark, Civil and Criminal remedies in case of trademark infringement and the like. He concluded the session by sharing certain defenses and exceptions to trademark infringement and also discussed emerging concepts such as trademark infringement on social media platforms & e,-commerce and counterfeiting.
The enlightening session saw around 300 participants and concluded with a Vote of Thanks delivered on behalf of the Organizing Committee of Training and Recruitment Division, Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University.
TRD – Trademark and Litigation 22nd July-Web report (with photos) – Click Here to View
