Copyright registration not mandatory to file a suit for infringement In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court clarified the settled position of copyright law that registration of copyright is not a prerequisite to institute a suit for infringement (Sanjay Soya Pvt. Ltd. v. Narayani Trading Company). Further, the court clarified the distinction between registration under the Trade Marks Act and the Copyright Act: “Registration under the Trade Marks Act confers specific distinct rights unavailable to an unregistered proprietor. Important among these is the right to sue for infringement. This is only available to a registered proprietor.” In this case for infringement, the court held in favour of the proprietor who had made prior use of the label mark in question, even though the mark was not registered as a copyright; thus upholding the law that what is required is a prior use and not registration in the case of copyright infringement. Reddy & Reddy Law Firm has a forte in handling matters related to intellectual property rights. They have an experienced team of lawyers ready to assist in all your disputes.