Mason & Associates is a specialist intellectual property boutique. Focused on handling all matters of IP, the firm has strengths in contentious IP matters, litigation strategy, anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy enforcement, patent litigation and competition matters. It has a market-recognised speciality in copyright and IT matters.
Intellectual property specialist Neel Mason is the main contact at the firm for disputes work. The team was bolstered recently by the arrival of two associate partners and four new associates.
The team successfully defended Eros International Media in a trademark infringement suit against Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. The opponent is the plaintiff and it holds the registration for the trademark “DRL” that it claims was infringed by the client in a movie it produced. The plaintiff’s application was dismissed and the film was released as scheduled.
The team continues to act for Super Cassettes Industries (T-Series) in proceedings before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board concerning fixed royalty rates. This case examined, for the first time, a section of the Copyright Act for the broadcasting of a sound recording and underlying literary and musical works over radio. The lawyers helped present at the proceedings and made a submission in regard to which model should be followed for fixation of rate as well as legal submissions regarding the need for rates to be fixed for underlying works when a sound recording is broadcast over radio.
HiTone Electronics had engaged the firm for its defence in a trademark infringement suit. The plaintiff has held the trademark registration for “BOSS” since 2004, while the client held the registration for “Boss (Device)” since 1979, and the dispute revolved around prior use in India and market recognition. The court ruled in favour of HiTone, a decision which the plaintiff appealed. Ultimately, the matter was settled between both parties.
