News
Committees to be constituted within one year
17 June 2014
Public companies with a paid up capital of Rs. 10 crore or more, or having turnover of Rs. 100 crore or more, or having in aggregate, outstanding loans or borrowings or debentures or deposits exceeding Rs. 50 crore and/or more, and which were not required to constitute Audit Committee or the Nomination and Remuneration Committee under the erstwhile Companies Act, 1956, are now required to constitute same within specified time.
CLB not empowered to order issue of shares
17 June 2014
The Company Law Board (CLB) does not have power under Section 111 of the Companies Act, 1956 to decide on right to shares and decree suits for specific performance as well as order rectification of register.
Method claims - SC rules on inducement & infringement
11 June 2014
The US Supreme Court, on 2-6-2014, held that the petitioner was not liable for inducing patent infringement when it required third parties (customer) to carry out certain steps of the process covered by the method patent of the respondent [Limelight Networks Inc v. Akamai Technologies, No. 12–786].
Reference to arbitration in cases of void or voidable contracts – SC lays down guidelines
06 June 2014
The Supreme Court of India has, on 28th of May, 2014 declined to accept the proposition that whenever a contract is alleged to be void ab-initio, the courts exercising jurisdiction under Section 8 and Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 are rendered powerless to refer the disputes to arbitration.
HDPE fabric is artificial silk
05 June 2014
The High Court of Punjab & Haryana recently examined warp and weft to judge if HDPE woven fabric is artificial silk [A.R. Plastic P. Ltd. v. State of Haryana].
Multilateralism to stay despite RTAs - WTO Annual Report, 2014
04 June 2014
The WTO released its Annual Report on 28-5-2014. Not surprisingly, the ‘Bali Package’ has been highlighted as an important milestone in negotiations.
Copyright of design when the same not registered under Designs Act
26 May 2014
Drawing/design which is an artistic work under the Copyright Act, as also under the Designs Act, 2000, if not registered under the latter Act, will have protection under the Copyright Act only till the design is used not more than 50 times by an industrial process to produce an article.
Bombay High Court rules on meeting requirements
23 May 2014
Even as the new Companies Act continues to unfold slowly, issues of interpretation and conflicts have started to appear.
Public offer as per Takeover Regulations includes voluntary open offer - Economic viability not ground for withdrawal
16 May 2014
The fundamental issue which arose in this appeal before Supreme Court was whether an open offer voluntarily made through a public announcement for purchase of shares of the target company can be permitted to be withdrawn under Regulation 23(1)(d) of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 (‘New Takeover Regulations’) on the ground that the voluntary open offer has become financially unviable.
Non-competitor cannot be held liable for denial of market access
16 May 2014
The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) has overruled the ruling given by Competition Commission of India in 2012 [Please refer Corporate Amicus-July 2012 issue for CCI Order] imposing penalty on cable operators for denial of market access to the broadcasters and other stakeholders, by certain cable operators who worked as a group, and hence acting in contravention to Section 4(2)(c) of the Competition Act, 2002.