BUSINESS LAW

December 2022 Examination

Q1. India’s vision of self-reliance is not only on its technological prowess

but the conscious exploitation its flora and fauna. Explain and highlight
the important provisions and features of the law that conserves biological
diversity in India along with regulating the access to Indian Biological
Resources (10 Marks)
Ans 1.

Introduction:

India is one of the world's 17 mega-diverse countries. However, many plants and animals are
on the verge of extinction. The Government of India has taken several efforts, legislation, and
policy initiatives to safeguard critically endangered and other vulnerable animal and plant
species. It is critical for conserving species variety. It also contributes to the long-term
management and usage of species and ecosystems. Conservation of biodiversity is vital for
economic growth and poverty reduction. Biodiversity refers to the abundance and diversity of
life on Earth. It is our planet's most complicated and vital characteristic. Life could not exist
without biodiversity. The quantity of various creatures and their relative frequencies in an
environment are all part of biodiversity. It also represents the organisational structure of
organisms at various levels. Biodiversity is important for both ecological and economic
reasons. It supplies us with food, shelter, fuel, clothes, and a variety of other things. It also
reaps financial benefits from tourism. As a result, having a thorough understanding of
biodiversity is critical for a sustainable lifestyle. Healthy ecosystems clean our water, filter
our air, keep our soil in good condition, control the temperature, recycle nutrients, and
provide us with food. They supply raw materials and resources for pharmaceuticals and other
uses. They are the cornerstone of all civilisations and the lifeblood of our economy.
Biological diversity refers to the worldwide diversity of species and ecosystems, as well as
the ecological processes that they support, and is divided into three components: genetic,
species, and ecosystem diversity. Most people define biodiversity in terms of species, which
are groups of individual living creatures that may interbreed. Blue whales, white-tailed deer,
white pine trees, sunflowers, and miniscule microbes that can't even be seen with the human
eye are examples of species. Biodiversity conservation refers to the protection and
management of biodiversity in order to gain resources for long-term development. The
protection of biodiversity has three primary goals: To conserve species variety. Sustainable
use of species and ecosystems. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 is an Act adopted by the
Indian Parliament to preserve biological diversity in India, and it provides a system for fair
sharing of benefits deriving from the utilisation of traditional biological resources and
knowledge.
 Source: Overview of Biological diversity Act, 2002 - iPleaders

Concept and Application:

The Biological Diversity Act 2002 arose from India's endeavour to realise the goals set in the
United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992, which acknowledges
nations' sovereign rights to utilise their own biological resources. The Act strives to conserve
biological resources and associated knowledge while also providing access to them in a
sustainable and equitable way. It established the National Biodiversity Authority in Chennai
to carry out the Act's objectives. The Biodiversity Act is a federal legislation issued by the
Indian Parliament to preserve biological variety in India, and it offers a system for fair
sharing of benefits deriving from the utilisation of traditional biological resources and
knowledge. The Act was created to fulfill India's responsibilities under the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD). The Lok Sabha enacted the Biodiversity Act on December 2,
2002, and the Rajya Sabha passed it on December 11, 2002. The major goal of the Act is to
ensure the protection of biological variety, the sustainable use of its components, and the
equitable use of its resources are in order to avoid misuse or the eventual annihilation of
biodiversity. Because India is one of the world's most ecologically varied countries, this
legislation is necessary to safeguard its biological legacy. It aids in the protection of flora and
wildlife since it provides for the establishment of the National Biodiversity Authority, State
Biodiversity Boards, and Biodiversity Management Committees to oversee the management
of biological resources.
Some salient features of this act are as follows:
1) To govern access to the country's biological resources with an equal share of benefits
emerging from their utilization.
2) To conserve and utilize biological variety in a sustainable manner.
3) Establishment of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and State Biodiversity Board
SBBs and BMCs (Biodiversity Management Committees)
4) Establishing a national, state, and local biodiversity fund and putting it to use for
Biodiversity preservation.
5) To respect and safeguard the local community and traditional knowledge biodiversity-
related knowledge.
6) To maintain and develop important regions from the standpoint of biological diversity by
designating them as places of biological diverse heritage
The functions of this act include:
● regulating actions forbidden by the Act;
● advising the government on biodiversity protection; and
● advising the government on the identification of biological heritage sites.
● Take appropriate action to oppose the award of intellectual property rights in other
nations based on the utilization of biological resources or associated traditional
knowledge.

Conclusion:

Therefore, we can conclude that, the biodiversity Act is the sole piece of legislation that
safeguards the country's natural resources. It is an umbrella law in the sense that it safeguards
India's natural resources, including flora and animals, as well as the traditional knowledge
linked with them. It is intended for conservation, long-term usage, and equitable benefit
distribution. The Act also established a three-tier framework for biodiversity management in
the national biodiversity authority, state biodiversity boards, and local panchayat-level
biodiversity management committees. This framework was established to recognise India's
biological richness and accompanying traditional knowledge. It aids in the protection of flora
and wildlife since it provides for the establishment of the National Biodiversity Authority,
State Biodiversity Boards, and Biodiversity Management Committees to oversee the
management of biological resources.

Q2. Please give two (2) instances where investigations and/or

punishments are initiated/enforced by the authorities set up under the
Competition Act, 2002. (10 Marks)
Ans 2

Introduction:

The Competition Act of 2002 oversees commercial competition in India. It superseded the
previous Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act of 1969. The Competition Act
seeks to ban practices that are harmful to competition in India. It is a mechanism for
implementing and enforcing competition policy, as well as preventing and punishing
enterprises' anti-competitive business activities and needless government intervention in the
market. Competition rules apply equally to written and oral agreements, arrangements, or
arrangements between firms or individuals. The Act primarily addresses these issues anti-
competitive agreements are prohibited, abuse of dominance is prohibited, combination
regulation (acquisition, mergers, and amalgamation of certain size), India's competition
commission is established, the power and functions of India's Competition Commission
The Competition Act includes the following provisions:
 1. Anti-Agreements: No individual or company shall engage in manufacturing, supply, or
distribution activities that may have a harmful impact on competition in India. The presence
of such agreements is seen as unlawful.
2. Abuse of dominating position: If an organization or an affiliated individual is determined
to be engaging in unfair or discriminating actions, this is called an abuse of dominant
position. If a party is determined to be abusing its position, the appropriate authorities will
conduct an inquiry.
3. Combinations: The act defines a combination as terms that lead to acquisitions or mergers.
However, if such combinations violate the Act's limitations, the parties concerned would be
investigated by the Competition Commission of India.
4. Competition Commission of India: The Competition Commission of India is an
independent organisation with the authority to enter into contracts and sue the parties
concerned if the contracts are breached. The Commission is made up of a maximum of six
members who are charged with preserving and promoting consumer interests in order to
maintain an optimal climate for economic competition.

Source: competition act 2022 in india - Google Search

Concept and Application:

The Competition Act of 2002 is an Indian law that prohibits practices that hinder market
competition while also safeguarding consumers. The fundamental goal of passing this
legislation is to encourage fair corporate practices and healthy market competitiveness.
These are two examples of investigations and/or punishments initiated/enforced by the
authorities set up under the Competition Act, 2002 are as follows:

1. Maruti Suzuki fined Rs 200 crore for anti-competitive dealer policies

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalized Maruti Suzuki, India's largest
carmaker, Rs 200 crore for executing its Discount Control Policy, which prohibits dealers
from giving client discounts beyond those permitted by the company. The Discount Control
Policy implemented by Maruti effectively hindered dealer competition and prohibited
customers from receiving extra discounts. According to the CCI announcement, the ruling
against Maruti is for engaging in anti-competitive Resale Price Maintenance ('RPM') of its
passenger car, as well as passing a cease-and-desist order. CCI discovered that MSIL had an
 arrangement with its dealers that discouraged them from providing further discounts or
freebies to consumers beyond what MSIL authorized.
According to the CCI announcement, if a dealer wished to provide further discounts, MSIL
clearance was required in advance. Any dealer found in violation of the Discount Control
Policy faced penalties not just against the dealership, but also against its individual
employees, including direct sales executives, regional managers, showroom managers, and
team leaders.

2. The CCI has sanctioned seven companies for bid-rigging in Indian Railways bids.

On June 9, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined seven companies for bid-
rigging and cartelization in Indian Railways bids. CCI discovered the 7 (seven) firms engaged
in cartelisation in the supply of protective tubes to the Indian Railways by directly or
indirectly determining prices, allocating tenders, controlling supply and market, co-ordinating
bid prices, and manipulating the bidding process during the investigation, according to an
official press release. The CCI noted regular e-mail exchanges between the parties as proof,
as well as the filing of bids from the same IP addresses by specific parties, among other
things. According to the CCI announcement, the ruling against Maruti is for engaging in anti-
competitive Resale Price Maintenance ('RPM') of its passenger car, as well as passing a
cease-and-desist order. CCI discovered that MSIL had an arrangement with its dealers that
discouraged them from providing further discounts or freebies to consumers beyond what
MSIL authorised.
According to the CCI announcement, if a dealer wished to provide further discounts, MSIL
clearance was required in advance. Any dealer found in violation of the Discount Control
Policy faced penalties not just against the dealership, but also against its individual
employees, including direct sales executives, regional managers, showroom managers, and
team leaders.

Conclusion:

Therefore, we can conclude that, this act helps in establishing a mechanism for compensation
and a determination to expedite the resolution of anti-competitive agreements and abuse of
dominant position investigations. The Bill decriminalizes certain Act offenses by shifting the
basis of punishment from fines to civil penalties. This act also helps to curb in a firm's or
business's anti-competitive behavior that has a detrimental effect on competition in India's
market. Additionally, the Act attempts to stimulate and sustain competition in the
marketplace, protect consumer interests, and preserve economic freedom in the country.

Q3. Samanyu wants to start a business along with his elder sister Samaira.
Both have decided to start food truck chains across India and have decided
to name it as “SamSam”. They are going to introduce a range of food
products under the name of SamSam. For ex: SamSam Fries, SamSam
Pizza, SamSam Tacos etc. Each of these products would have a special
recipe designed by both Samira and Samanyu. However, they are skeptical
that the word SamSam and these recipes would be copied/plagiarized by
other food truck owners. They have approached you with following queries
for them to understand what steps then can take to protect their rights:
a. What types intellectual property rights they could claim in relation to the
SamSam and the recipes. Please explain with reason on why the type of
intellectual property would apply? (5 Marks)
Ans 3 A.

Introduction:

Intellectual property rights are the rights granted to individuals over their mental works. They
often grant the inventor exclusive rights to utilise his or her invention for a set length of time.
Patents, copyright, and trademarks, for example, are legal mechanisms that allow people to
get recognition or financial advantage from what they innovate or produce. The IP system
attempts to establish an environment in which creativity and innovation may flourish by
striking the correct balance between the interests of inventors and the larger public interest.
Effective IPR enforcement is also critical for public health and safety. Intellectual property
rights in particular, produces and supports high-paying employment, fosters economic growth
and competitiveness, protects consumers and families, contributes to the generation of
innovative solutions to global issues, encourages innovation, and rewards entrepreneurs.

Source: patent: Safeguarding your intellectual property rights - The Economic Times
(indiatimes.com)

Concept and Application:

The forms of intellectual property rights they might assert in regard to the SamSam include
trademarks and for recipes is Copyrights.

● Trademark is used for SamSam to protect the name of the food truck
A trademark is any term, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies your goods or services, or a
combination of these things. It is how clients identify you in the marketplace and differentiate
you from your competition. Trademarks and service marks are both referred to by the term
"trademark." "trade mark" refers to a mark capable of being expressed graphically and
capable of differentiating one person's goods or services from those of another, and may
include the shape of items, their packaging, and color combinations. At the national/regional
level, trademark protection can be secured through registration by submitting an application
to the national/regional trademark office and paying the applicable fees.

● Copyrights is used to protect their recipes.

Copyright is a legal word that refers to the rights that authors and artists have over their
literary and creative works. Books, music, paintings, sculpture, and films are all examples of
works protected by copyright, as are computer programs, databases, ads, maps, and technical
drawings. It is a sort of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship once
they are fixed in a physical form of representation. The basic goal of copyright is to
encourage and compensate writers to create new works and make those works available to the
public for enjoyment through the provision of property rights. They not only protect your
original works, but they also assist ensure that rivals do not profit from them. It may even
strengthen the copyright protection by registering it.

Conclusion:

Therefore, we can conclude that, Samanyu and Samarira will avail the benefits of Intellectual
property rights to protect their names and secrets. They will use trademarks to protect the
brand name and copyrights to protect the recipes from being copied or duplicated elsewhere.
Hence, copyright helps to protect the value of an author work, by giving the originator of the
work the ability to protect it from unlicensed or uncredited usage. Trademark safeguards a
company's reputation and prevents other firms from stealing the intellectual property.

b. Explain civil and criminal remedies under various intellectual

property laws for enforcement of intellectual property rights? (5 Marks)

Ans 3 B.

Introduction:

Intellectual property refers to mental creations such as inventions, literary and creative works,
and commercially utilised symbols, pictures, names, and logos. Businesses are frequently
unaware that their assets contain intellectual property rights. Intellectual property rights are
legal rights granted to an inventor or creator to safeguard his invention or creativity for a set
length of time. It is crucial for encouraging creativity. Without intellectual property
protection, firms and individuals would not gain the full advantages of their creations and
would devote less time to research and development. These legal rights grant the
inventor/creator or his assignee the only right to fully exploit his invention/creation for a
specified length of time. Patents, copyright, industrial design rights, trademarks, plant variety
rights, trade dress, geographical indications, and trade secrets are all examples of intellectual
property rights. In general, the author of a work is considered its owner. Intellectual property
ownership, on the other hand, can be decided differently for various forms of property and
under different conditions. For example, if work is generated for a client, the client owns the
intellectual property.

Source: IPR and crimes : criminal remedies for IPR infringement in India - iPleaders

Concept and Application:

Intellectual property refers to any original human work, such as an artistic, literary,
technological, or scientific production. Infringement is defined as an outsider's intrusion on
the property of an owner or an authorised user without the owner's prior consent.
Infringement results from unauthorised use of someone else's property. Infringement is
defined as a violation of the law's established method. When there is a breach or infringement
of intellectual property, it is now the exclusive right of the intellectual property holder to find
a remedy for the infringement about something that he has obtained by a great deal of hard
work and huge efforts. As a result, intellectual property holders must be granted remedies.
There are three categories of remedies available to intellectual property owners: criminal,
civil, and administrative.
● Civil remedies:
A successful plaintiff in a private civil infringement case may obtain an injunction, an award
of costs, damages, or an account of profits, delivering up or demolition of the violating
objects and the materials used to produce them, and tracing orders.
● Criminal remedies:
Making and dealing with things that violate UK and community registered trade marks and
UK copyright is a criminal crime under TMA 1994, Section 92, and CDPA 1988, Section
107. On indictment, the more serious copyright and trade mark violations entail a possible
ten-year jail sentence and/or an infinite fine.

Intellectual property can be protected through both civil and criminal legal methods. In
practise, however, criminal justice is a far more efficient method for protecting rights, notably
intellectual property rights, than civil redress. The fundamental rationale for this remark is
that, unlike civil litigation, which is focused at a specific individual, criminal action serves as
a broad deterrent even if it is begun against specific recognised or unknown infringers or
violators.

Conclusion:

Therefore, we can conclude that, Intellectual property rights guarantee that you are
acknowledged as the author of items such as inventions, literary and creative works, designs,
and software. It serves as the starting point for economic innovation.