Copyright Cannot Be Granted To Ideas And Generic Terms Used Commonly In the Public Domain, Delhi High Court Invalidates Registration Of Phrase 'Coming Soon'

The Delhi High Court single bench of Justice Anish Dayal held that copyright protection cannot be provided to vague and abstract subjects, merely expressing a generic idea. The bench invalidated the registration of phrases like 'Coming Soon' and generic titles like 'Advertisement', which are commonly available in the public domain. 

Brief Facts:

HMD Mobile India Private Limited (“HMD”), a company incorporated in India, was a subsidiary of the Finnish company HMD Group Oy. This company held a license from Nokia Corporation to use the 'NOKIA' brand name for mobile phones and related accessories. HMD promoted the launch of Nokia products through a small clip featuring the phrase "Coming Soon," accompanied by the Nokia logo and its associated tune.

Mr Rajan Aggarwal, an individual contended that it was a violation of his registered copyrighted work titled 'Advertisement', which also used the words 'Coming Soon' along with the logo. He filed a suit in the District Court of Karkardooma against Nokia Solutions and Networks India Pvt. Ltd., claiming rights in the subject registration. HMD was not initially a party to this suit, but it moved an application under Order I Rule 10 of the CPC, 1908, to be impleaded since the original defendant was Nokia Solutions & Networks India Pvt. Ltd.

Meanwhile, HMD approached the Copyright office to verify the legitimacy of Mr Rajan's registered copyright work. During the inspection, it found a discrepancy report dated November 19, 2015, in which the Deputy Registrar of Copyrights questioned how an idea could be copyrighted. There was no subsequent communication to indicate that Mr Rajan had responded to this objection.

Therefore, HMD filed an interlocutory application before the High Court of Delhi (“High Court”). HMD argued that Mr Rajan's statement titled "Advertisement" could not be considered an original work under the standards of originality defined by the Copyright Act. It contended that the registration covered an idea, evident from the statement's concept of promoting "Coming Soon," which any company could use. The registered statement by Mr Rajan described the idea as capable of creating curiosity among customers and competitors about upcoming products or services. Therefore, HMD prayed before the High Court that Mr Rajan's registration should be removed from the Copyright Register.

Observations of the High Court:

The High Court reviewed the statutory framework under Section 45 of the Copyright Act, which allows authors, publishers, or interested parties to apply for copyright registration in a prescribed form accompanied by a fee. The application details are to be provided in Form XIV, which includes a "Statement of Particulars" and a "Statement of Further Particulars".

The High Court relied on Informa Markets India Private Limited vs M/S 4 Pinfotech and Anr. [C.O.(COMM.IPD-CR) 695/2022], where the court had examined the 'Practice and Procedure Manual' issued by the Copyright Office, which outlined the general practices for examining and registering literary works. It was held that a 'basic filtration process' should be applied during the examination of copyright applications, guided by the Manual, which should be regularly updated for accuracy.

Applying these principles to the present case, the High Court noted that the subject registration application by Mr Rajan had received a Discrepancy Report on 19th November 2015 from the Deputy Registrar of Copyrights. This report questioned how an idea could be copyrighted. There was no evidence of a response from Mr Rajan to this objection. The High Court observed that the report rightly raised an objection to the registration of the impugned copyright. However, it remained unclear why the registration was granted despite this objection.

The High Court found that the impugned copyright was vague and abstract, merely expressing a generic idea titled "Advertisement." It was noted that the text of the impugned copyright described a concept commonly used by companies to promote their products with the phrase "Coming Soon," which was widely available in the public domain. This lack of originality contravened Section 13(1)(a) of the Copyright Act. The High Court found no creativity in the impugned copyright, which was merely a brief description without substantial investment or originality, drawn from the public domain. This was substantiated by documents provided by HMD showing similar third-party advertisements on YouTube using the "Coming Soon" concept. 

Therefore, the High Court concluded that the registration was a generic description of "Coming Soon" advertisements and was rightfully objected to in the Discrepancy Report. Consequently, the High Court directed the impugned copyright registration to be removed from the Register of Copyright and rectified within four weeks.

Case Title: HMD Mobile India Private Limited vs Mr Rajan Aggarwal and Anr.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 706

Case No.: C.O. (Comm. IPD-CR) 1/2024 I.A. 3142/2024 I.A. 3134/2024

Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr Sagar Chandra, Ms Ankita Seth and Ms Kriti Ramudamu

Advocate for the Respondents: Mr Ajay Kumar Chopra and Mr Mudit Talesara (For R-1); Mr Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, Mr Srish Kumar Mishra, & Mr Alexander Mathai Paikaday

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