Trademark Law

By Prof. Sourabh Bharti | NALSAR University of Law

Learners enrolled: 3153 | Exam registration: 698

ABOUT THE COURSE:

With the growing importance of trademarks, the curiosity to learn the nuances of trademark jurisprudence is also increasing. What does the trademark law entail, what are the foundations of this area of law, what kinds of rights it provides and limitations on rights it prescribes and what theoretical foundations inform the scope of rights and limitations. The course will also engage with contemporary challenges faced by the trademark law jurisprudence in identifying the prohibited use and actionable confusion in infringement issues. Allied areas like passing off law and domain name related issues will be included.

More importantly, through the course an attempt will be made to help students understand the trademark law jurisprudence engages with the public interest vs private interest tension much like copyright law or patent law. how does the trademark law respond to such issues?

INTENDED AUDIENCE: LLB Students

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	4 weeks
Category :	Law
Credit Points :	1
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	16 Feb 2026
End Date :	13 Mar 2026
Enrollment Ends :	16 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	27 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	17 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Theoretical Foundations of Trademark Law and Understanding the Legal Boundaries

Week 2: Registration: Exploring the grounds for refusal of registration

Week 3: Infringement and Passing Off

Week 4: Dilution jurisprudence, Domain name and Trademark Law issues

Books and references

Kerly’s Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names, Thomson Reuters (Sweet and Maxwell).Tr
Tanya Aplin, Jennifer Davis, Intellectual Property Law, Text, Cases And Material, Oxford.
Bentley, Sherman (et.al), Intellectual Property Law, Oxford.
Elizabeth Verkey, Intellectual Property, Law and Practice, Eastern Book Company.

Instructor bio

Prof. Sourabh Bharti

NALSAR University of Law

Prof. Sourabh Bharti started teaching at NALSAR in 2009 after finishing my LL.M. at NALSAR. In my years as a faculty member at NALSAR I have taught various courses including Jurisprudence, Professional Ethics, Administrative Law. IP being my specialization in LLM, it has remained a constant in the list of subjects I have taught since joining NALSAR. Apart from teaching a foundational course on IP to undergraduate students, I also offer elective courses on foundations of IP and the law of patents to LLM students. Apart from this I also teach a seminar course on Traditional Knowledge and IP.

NALSAR attracts some of the best students of the country and this makes teaching a challenge for any teacher here. The university is also home to people from varied backgrounds with varied life experiences. Teaching a class with such diverse set of students therefore becomes a highly enriching experience. Participants in the process of learning, including the teachers, invariably get exposed to the social, political and economic contexts of the legal problems discussed in the class and thereby appreciate the depth of the statement that lawyers are social engineers. I try to bring this experience on board in teaching the courses I teach including courses on IP.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 17, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 3 assignments out of the total 4 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

SWAYAM Helpline / Support