Friday, August 13, 2010

Money for Nothing: Is the INR Logo a Copy?


Gautam Bakshi, Head IPR (R&D), Lalru Division, Panacea Biotec asks whether the below facts call out for a case of copyright infringement.

Apparently, whilst travelling by train recently, he came across the logo of a company named Railtech which looked awfully similar to the new INR symbol that has made much waves in the recent past. Indeed, the symbol appeals to all of us for its clear link to the devanagari script and its simple elegance.

Both these logos appear broadly similar. But that is because they draw their origin from the same source i.e. the wonderful "R" in the devanagari script. In fact, the Railtech logo does nothing more than replicate the Devanagari "R"..wheareas the Rupee logo has a clear line that cuts across the "R" (which has a slant similar to the Roman script R, minus the straight line). They appear to have independently conceived drawing from the same public domain source i..e their "inception" involved no "copying", a critical element that helps establish copyright infringement.

Anyway, I leave this to the better judgment of the mango logon.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Shammnad
Ramadan Mubarak!
I could not understand how a prudent mind could post this kind of childish comment. Is it because the comment comes from the 'Head of IP' or because the symbol has so much attention that any and every view on it commands attention?
I could not locate any valid reason for connecting the two symbols as quoted by you.
There are n number of symbols based on some letter but are legally co-existing.
This post infers AUDI has copied the symbol of Olympic Games.

Regards

Anonymous said...

there is no similarity at all between 2 marks. i do not know what looked similar to Gautam ! It does not seem to be a case of copyright infringement.

VC said...

Though not strikingly similar but may be a concidence...

Anonymous said...

Mr. Gautam Bakshi is NOT the HEAD-IPR of Panacea Biotec Ltd. BUT heading only the IP Division of Panacea's R&D division at Lalru, Punjab.

Dr. Goutam Ghosh is heading the entire gamut of IP activity of Panacea as Vice President of the Technology Management Group and Corporate IPR from its Head Office at New Delhi.

Swaroopa Chavan said...

I could not find any similarity in between the two however both the symbols have devanagari scripted "ra" in two different styles.

Anonymous said...

There is no similarity between the given marks. It is a time pass activity.

Anonymous said...

there are no similarities. Both the logos are 100% independent and dissimilar. I dont know why people are wasting time for this type of posts.

Anonymous said...

Dear Gautam,
Infringment suit aginst whom? against the Govt ? Or against Rail Tech? Or agisnt the artist?

Anonymous said...

It is a classic case of copyright infringement and needs to be nipped in the bud. Please file a case on behalf of the Indian public in representative capacity against the Indian Government.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree..the very fabric of the law should be a transparent system of governance...in the present context, certainly ambiguity prevails b/w the two marks and they look quite similar to a person having ordinary skilled in the art

Anonymous said...

ordinary skilled in the art..in copyright also?? :)

Anonymous said...

Thanx Shamnaad for quite a thought provoking mail on the delicate issue which Mr.Bakshi rightly brought to the forum...the two symbols do indeed look quite similar and represents a curious case for the new symbol of the INR...

It is irony of this country that if u raise a valid question you will be the ultimate sufferer [See Jane bhi do yaaro]. As here also some person raised a question that Gautam is not a head of IPR etc....
Same thing is happening in our political system....