Advocate Sheetal Vohra

Questions Answered by Advocate Sheetal Vohra

Q: Can same brand name with different be sold

I am on a verge of finalising a deal with a foreign brand after which I will beits all india disttibutor. But upon research I found out that the brand name is already registered by someone else in India on his name in 2013. Can we sell that particular brand?

Advocate Sheetal Vohra answered
In case the brand belong to your foreign partner and the third party "someone else" who has registered in not true owner of brand, your foreign partner should file rectification petition / cancellation petition against this third party's registered trademark. Also, a legal notice / cease and desist notice should be sent to this third party who has wrongfully registered the trademark to stop use of the mark as well as cancel his registered mark.

Q: How to get the stolen trademark back

Sir we were doing work together with the same trademark. And then it secretly stolen the trademark and now the trademark is on his name. How can we get back the trademark? Any scheme we can apply?

Advocate Sheetal Vohra answered
You have options with you. By secretly stolen we feel you mean that the other person has applied for the same in Trade Marks Registry. In case it is pending mark, you can ask your advocate to keep a watch and oppose it. If it is registered you could file for cancellation of the same before Trade Marks Registry or Intellectual Property Appellate Board.Your next option is to issue legal notice / cease and desist notice. In the said notice you could ask him to withdraw his trademark application. if he still does not comply then you will have to file a civil suit for injunction and damages.

Q: Can Software company send me notice for using software w/o purchasing

Should I buy a software license for using my some freelance work ? I am doing job with some part time freelance work. I downloaded software from internet. I am single user not a company of many employees. Can Software company send me notice for using their software without purchase ? That software price is very high and I am not earning equal to that software price in 1 year. I have my portfolio website also where I uploads my some work samples to get some freelance work.

Advocate Sheetal Vohra answered
If you are using free/open source software then the software company cannot send you notice and these types of software, generally, are for free trial basis for one month. BUT if you are commercially exploiting any software meaning thereby developing the software and selling it out, doing any work to get money, in other words for gaining money by using this software, is a violation of copyright. If anyone is using patch version of any software, pirated software and generate key by any key generator, is an infringement of copyright and for that a company can take action against you. In India, the copyright of computer software is protected under the Indian Copyright Act of 1957. Police can raid your office or house and can arrest you without warrant. Under the Indian Copyright Act, a software pirate can be tried under both civil and criminal law. Sections of The IT Act, 2000, specifically Section 63B, can also be applied based on scenario of piracy. The minimum jail term for software copyright infringement is seven days, and the maximum jail term is three years. Statutory fines range from a minimum of 50,000 to a maximum of 200,000 rupees.

Q: Unauthorized use of my email ID

My personal email and FB accounts are found with unauthorized entry for months through certain devices. I would like yo file a complaint and hence would like to know about the punishment for such offenders. ---

Advocate Sheetal Vohra answered
Dear,You can file complaint with the to the concerned Police Station as per jurisdiction under Sections 43 and 66 of the Information technology Act.The punishment for such offenders is three years of imprisonment and has to pay damages by way of compensation to the person affected

Q: How can i get custody of my child

my wife always thretned me for divorce and she will always thretened me court will give custordy of child to her.but i dont want to leave my baby

Advocate Sheetal Vohra answered
We can help you in retaining the custody of the child. You are a father and unless she can show that your presence in their life will be negative / harmful for them, she cannot exclude you. Mother is natural guardian but there are instances where custody has been given to father.