Punjab and Haryana High Court rules there is no copyright in making and selling clothing.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a case against a man accused of making and selling clothes with a fake Puma label. The court decided that there is no copyright protection for the manufacturing and selling of garments. This case originated from an incident in 2017, where the man was charged under Sections 63 and 65 of the Copyright Act for allegedly violating Puma’s copyright. Later, the trial court added charges for trademark infringement under Sections 103 and 104 of the Trade Marks Act. Justice Karamjit Singh reviewed Section 13 of the Copyright Act, which specifies what works can be copyrighted. The court stated, “According to Section 13 of the 1957 Act, copyright can only apply to certain types of works. Therefore, there can be no copyright in the manufacturing and selling of garments. The prosecution has not proven any infringement under the 1957 Act.”
Advocate Mandeep Singla represented the accused, while Additional Advocate General JS Dhaliwal represented the Respondent. The court also looked into the trademark infringement charges and found that the investigation was not done properly. It noted, “Inspector Vijay Kumar conducted the investigation in violation of Section 115(4) of the 1999 Act, which states that cases of trademark infringement must be investigated by a police officer of at least Deputy Superintendent rank.” Due to these procedural errors, the court ruled that the prosecution under both the Copyright Act and the Trade Marks Act was not valid. As a result, the criminal case was dismissed.
Cause Title: Arun Kumar v. State of Punjab & Anr., [2024:PHHC:155158]
