How tough has it been to handle IP matters for Walt Disney, Mattel Toys etc in this scenario?
There are massive infringements going on-breach of copyright/trademark. There is a lot of piracy/counterfeiting of consumer products. It is difficult to counterfeit an IBM mainframe computer but it isn’t tough to do so for a ball point pen with a Mickey Mouse mask. We have helped our clients conduct raids, gone to the courts and got seizure orders, seize and desist orders etc. This demonstrates the availability of protection for intellectual property in India. Very often, people in India say that IP is not protected. But if you actually go to court you will find that if you have a good case, by and large, you do get prompt and favourable protection. Would there be some ball park figure on the kind of legal costs involved in defending a patent? It all depends on the product, who the plaintiff/defendant is. For instance, what was/could have been involved in challenging the basmati patent would be a very different figure compared with a local high court case in respect of a small item. Bu
