The motorbike industry has recently witnessed a dispute between Bajaj Auto and TVS over IPR issues. This legal tussle between the two took a new twist when the Madras High Court restrained TVS from booking, distributing or selling its recently launched motorcycle 'Flame'. The court had also ordered TVS to maintain accounts in respect of orders already booked. Earlier Bajaj had claimed that TVS had used its Digital Twin Spark Technology or acronym DTS-i technology as it is popularly known over which it has a patent in its, soon to be launched, Flame. Bajaj said that its company had already obtained the patent for the technology when it launched its popular bike Pulsar and cited the cases of China-based Taian Chiran Machinery Co and its Sri Lankan distributor who were ordered by a Sri Lankan court to withdraw their copy of the Bajaj Pulsar with DTS-i technology from the market to support its contention. TVS had refuted this statement and said that this technology is not the same technology, which will be used, on its Flame but in fact had been licensed to it by AVL, an Austrian company and leader in engine technology.

The United States has told Britain that it can ‘kidnap’ foreign citizens in case they are wanted for crimes in the U.S. According to legal experts, kidnapping US citizens is permissible under US law, as the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it. Thus as per this law, it can be affirmed that the US has also viewed extradition as a way of getting foreign suspects to face trial. This view of the US government emerged during a hearing, which involved the former director of Chelsea football club Stanley Tollman, and his wife Beatrice who were wanted in the US for bank fraud and tax evasion. Thus if a person was kidnapped by the US authorities in another country and was brought back to face charges in the US, no US court could rule that the abduction was illegal and try to free him.

Mergers and Acquisitions in India have crossed the $50 billion mark this year. According to a study conducted by Grant Thornton, a consultancy firm, the year has witnessed a total of 638 deals worth $ 50.79 billion. Cross border M&As have accounted for a larger pie in the deals. Some of the recent cross border deals include Bajaj Auto’s acquisition of a 14.50% stake in KTM Power Sports AG which is a company based in Austria and DLF’s acquisition of Aman Resorts for $250 million.

The Supreme Court order, which was delivered by a division bench comprising of Justice H.S Bedi and Justice S.B Sinha for allowing girls to be bartenders and lowering the employment in bars from 25 years to 21 years for both men and women, would also imply the lowering of the legal age for consumption of alcohol to 21 years. Earlier, the Delhi Government had opposed the High Court order on the ground that allowing girls to be bartenders could lead to serious situations like the murder of model Jessica Lal in 1997 and could also lead to more incidents like the BMW hit-and-run case. The apex court, however, dealt with a wide range of decisions on gender equality from both, the domestic and foreign perspective and said that this restriction of the law on women to choose a profession rendered such a provision unconstitutional. The apex court also kept in mind the adverse impact of the 1914 law on the future of a large number of girls and boys pursuing hotel management courses and said that if this decision was not taken, then such young men and women would be deprived of their right of employment.

Abbott Laboratories has filed a patent suit against Indian Pharmaceutical giant Zydus Cadila with the New Jersey District Court to restrain the Indian company from selling a generic version of its best-selling drug in the US named Depakote. This drug is meant for the treatment of bipolar disorder, epilepsy and migraine headaches. According to Abbott, Zydus Cadila, would infringe four patents for the controlled released version of Depakote that expire on December 18, 2018. This lawsuit has come months after the Indian pharma giant approached the US Food and Drug Administration seeking market approval to sell a generic version of Depakote, which is chemically known as divalproex sodium. According to legal experts, it is unclear that why Abbott is suing the Indian company now but feel that this could be a new strategy by the US pharma major to keep generic versions off the US pharma market. While there are chances that Zydus Cadilla may shortly receive approval from the US FDA to market the extended version of Abbott’s drug, it may need to launch its product at the risk of damages claimed from the innovator as it may take months for the court to give its verdict in this case. Generic drug makers worldwide are challenging drug patents in the US in order to seek a rapid entry into the market.

The Supreme Court has upheld the HC ban on interviewing kids for nursery admissions revising its earlier decision where a SC bench had said that the ban was illegal. The apex court however, allowed schools to have unfettered interaction with parents even as it expressed doubts about the need for such questioning. A bench comprising of Chief Justice K.G Balkrishnan stayed this High Court curb. At the same time, the SC passed strong remarks on interviewing parents of shortlisted candidates like “You want to interact with parents to see whether they are black or white, rich or poor…During the interaction, you want to know how much parents are willing to pay as donation?”

The formation of the International Mediation Institute or the IMI was announced on 30 April 2007. The IMI will be based at The Hague, Netherlands, which is also where the ICJ is situated. Its aim is to create a global ISO competency standard to certify and ensure quality assurance of mediators and to enable users to identify IMI certified mediators with ease.