Issue #35 : Gold & Monopoly
Welcome to the 35th edition of Overheard in Asia (and fast one for 2024)!
Here are the 🌶 headlines:
China: China holds that AI-generated images with sufficient human contribution can be copyright-protected
India: Indian Supreme Court upholds Group of Companies doctrine in Indian arbitration jurisprudence
Ling Yah
P/S: Know of any interesting seminars happening? Drop us a note at editor@overheard.asia!
Relationship Gone South
Things had gone sour between an Indian IT company and its former CFO.
🍿 What Happened?
Jatin Dalal is the former Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, having worked at the company for over 21 years (and served as its CFO for 7 of those years).
He quit in September 2023 and joined Wipro’s rival, Cognizant, on 1 December - the day after his last day of employment with Wipro.
Wipro wasn’t pleased and on November 2023, launched a lawsuit against Jatin seeking damages worth Rs 25.15 crore ($3.02 million) + 18% interest per annum.
Wipro claims that Jatin had violated the non-compete terms of his employment contract, which had listed 10 of Wipro’s competitors and the fact that he couldn’t work in any capacity with them for 12 months after his exit.
Jatin claims that the non-compete clauses are in violation of Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act and therefore unenforceable. He also applied for arbitration on the grounds that the agreement he signed allowed for this.
👀 Now What?
A Bengaluru civil court has referred the case for arbitration.
Alibaba's Monopoly Ends
Alibaba’s just suffered another crippling loss.
🍿 What Happened?
In 2017, Chinese digital platform JD.com launched a lawsuit against Alibaba Group Holding Limited and its subsidiaries, Zhejiang Tmall Network Co and Zhejiang Tmall Technology Co, alleging that the parties were abusing their market dominance.
Specifically, they were using a ‘picking one from two’ tactic where brands and merchants were forced to operate exclusively on their platforms.
These monopolistic practices had caused severe damage to JD.com and hampered competition in China’s e-commerce market.
👀 Now
Beijing High People’s Court has held that Alibaba Group Holding must pay JD.com 1 billion yuan ($141 million) in damages.
This isn’t the first blow that Alibaba has suffered.
Back in 2021, Alibaba was fined a record $2.75 billion in an anti-trust probe by Chinese regulators also for using the 'picking one from two’ tactic.
Gold
Everyone wants more gold.
🍿 What Happened?
Panthera Resources PLC is a gold exploration company with assets in India and West Africa.
In 2004, it made an initial investment in Bhukia for a gold mining project but the Government of Rajasthan refused to let it claim legal rights over the site.
In August 2018, the Government of Rajasthan rejected a prospecting licence by Metal Mining India Pte Ltd (subsidiary of Indo Gold Pty Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Panthera) for the Bhukia project in Rajasthan.
According to Panthera, the rejection was made on spurious and legally untenable grounds and was made in spite of a promise by Rajasthan to grant the licence.
👀 What Now?
Indo Gold Pty Ltd has issued a notice of dispute to the Indian government over the latter's breach of the 1999 Australia-India bilateral investment treaty.
P/S: This mining project is worth a reported $1+ billion!
Spotlight: Sitpah Selvaratnam
What is your current role?
I have stepped into an exciting new phase in my career as Independent Arbitrator at the turn of 2024. I'm doing a lot more tech stuff now that I am on my own! I have several pending arbitral references where I am sole or presiding arbitrator which have me well occupied. Fortunately, they are at different stages of proceedings and involve varied issues.
What is your proudest achievement?
The arrest and judicial sale of the Superyacht Equanimity recovered for the people of Malaysia at USD 126 million in the 1MDB scandal was extra-special. It was the coming together of my maritime law skills and a rare opportunity to serve my country pro bono.
The significant amount that got unwound from that fraud accounts for my personal pride in that piece of work.
As an aside, I must confess that beyond the material dimension, what I am most proud of is my constant ability to reflect on circumstances, and act in a manner to remain true to myself.
If you had 25 hours in a day, what would you do with the extra hour?
My extra hour has taken many forms and shapes over the years! From running workshops on parenting and with young adults on living skills, to training in the martial art of Aikido.
Currently, my extra hour is focused on curating my late father’s art works to set-up a small gallery in his memory.
If you weren't a lawyer, what would you be?
A counsellor or life coach. It is my natural inclination to want to understand people and situations. Thinking patterns, emotions and human behaviour really interest me. Almost as much as the law! But I am grateful that I accidentally slipped onto the path of law.
Your favourite food haunt is...?
“Bref” by Darren Chin! I am a vegetarian and his truffle pasta is to kill (!!) for.
Note: Edited for clarity & brevity.
Food Feature
Saigon is a place of great, cheap food and if you're ever in town, be sure to try out the dry noodle version at Bún thịt nướng Kiều Bảo! It's trademark dry noodles are prepared fast and come with a variety of meat options and a mountain of vegetables to add on as you wish!
Details: TripAdvisor, Google Maps
Are you a student or young lawyer?
Want to get involved in helping to run Overheard? Meet senior practitioners? Do legal research with real world impact?
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Special thanks to Overheard in Asia's sponsor:
David Grief was described as "the Law's Middleman" (Business Times, 2021). You can reach out to him at dg@davidgrief.com if you need help identifying the right lawyer, arbitrator or expert for your matters, or even if you just want to grab a drink 🍵🍺 with someone who has managed and mentored lawyers for almost 5️⃣0️⃣ years!