Introduction   Traditional Cultural Expressions (‘ TCEs’ ) as defined  (page 6) by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (‘ WIPO’ ), ‘ may include music, dance, art, designs, names, signs and symbols, performances, ceremonies, architectural forms, handicrafts and narratives, or many other artistic or cultural expressions’ . To this abstract definition,   WIPO extends the scope even further by including any ‘ form’  in which traditional culture might be expressed, and

Introduction As the limits of trademark law are stretched with the rise of non-traditional marks, questions arise on how to reliably judge them in the courtroom without succumbing to subjectivity. With hurdles faced from registration to disproving confusion, uncertainty engulfs unconventional marks, especially in India. Since these marks are far less explored vis-à-vis the traditional visual marks, perhaps the way forward is to incorporate objective tools of neuroscience as a

The Novartis Precedent and the Ascent of the Therapeutic Efficacy Doctrine The Supreme Court of India's 2013 judgment in Novartis AG v. Union of India & Others  was the tipping point in the history of pharmaceutical patenting and international intellectual property law. One loosely phrased clause in the  Indian Patents Act , Section 3(d), was converted into a powerful doctrine that has, in turn, dictated the intellectual property rights-public health balance ever since. Thro

Introduction What will happen if the copyright law, made to protect creativity, becomes a weapon to silence it? This question came alive in a recent controversy between Asian News International (‘ANI’) and Mohak Mangal, a YouTuber, along with several prominent Indian social media creators in May 2025. They alleged ANI of leveraging copyright claims and forcing creators to pay large sums of money for using short clips of ANI in their content. In May 2025, YouTuber Mohak Mangal

Introduction The nascent field of Fashion Law owes a sizeable proportion of its burgeoning body of scholarly writing and interest to its intersection with intellectual property law and related areas. More specifically, the issue of cultural appropriation wherein multinational fashion houses and brands incorporate designs and elements of traditional items of clothing or accessories associated with communities and cultures in third-world countries into their own lines or produc