Man arrested for copyright violation

AHMEDABAD: In a first of its kind casein the city, a man was arrested on Wednesday night for stealing design catalogueof a furniture brand and using it for commercial purpose.Complainant Krunal Patel, a resident of Ambawadi who owns HOF Furniture Systems Pvt Ltd, a city-based company, alleged that Sunil Vala, a resident of Ambawadi and proprietor of Venus Furnitures, had plagiarized his furniture designs and displayed them on his website. "The furniture designs were patented and the catalogues were also secured as intellectual property. Every such catalogue is meticulously designed and involves a huge amount of time and money. As per Patel's complaint, the act of theft was violation of rights on the property that could harm his business interests. He has named Vala as an accused in the case," said a Vastrapur police station official, where the case has been registered. Vala was arrested forthe offence from his residence. In his statement, he told investigators thatPulkit Parmar, his web designer, had copied the catalogue available online anddownloaded it on the website of the furniture manufacturers. The officials havemade Parmar co-accused in the case and have confiscated the computer systemsused for the act as an evidence in the case.The officials said thatit is a new kind of crime in the city where intellectual properties areplagiarized or copied. Most recent cases include data thefts from BPOs anddesigns from the design studios.