Is a 15-Year Wait for a Trademark Legal?

Imagine filing for a brand in 2010 and still not having an answer until 2025. This isn’t a “what if” – it’s a real case that rocked the Indian trademark system.

In today’s fast-moving global economy, your IP protection needs to move as fast as your business. When the system stalls for over a decade, it’s not just an administrative delay – it’s a violation of fundamental rights and a massive risk to your brand’s value.

Inspiration or Counterfeit? Where Exactly Is the Line?

The Adidas vs. Steve Madden case is one of the disputes that shows how thin the line between legal inspiration from trends and infringement of others’ rights can be. For years, Adidas has consistently protected its three-stripe motif – not as a general decorative idea, but as an element that identifies the brand, strongly rooted in the minds of consumers.

Free Riding in Action: When ‘Inspired By’ Crosses the Line

One example of such a situation is the case of L’Oréal v Bellure NV (C-487/07), which concerned, among other things, comparative advertising of cheaper perfumes that directly or indirectly “suggested” to consumers that they were equivalent to well-known products.

What Netflix’s Warner Bros Buyout Means for Intellectual Property

At the beginning of December, Netflix announced plans to acquire for $82.7 billion Warner Bros, which also includes the HBO Max platform and the rights to iconic productions such as Game of Thrones.

The transaction is expected to be finalized within 12 to 18 months.