Traditional Knowledge

A Spotlight on TKDL Once More: Oppose, Only To Abandon?

/ By / Traditional Knowledge

Recently, Laila Impex’s application pertaining to an herbal composition (IN201641013908) was opposed by CSIR’s TKDL unit. However, in a surprising turn of events, the unit did not attend the hearing, and the representation given also did not emphasize any of the specific grounds of opposition.  Initiated in 2001, the TKDL aims to serve as a vital link between traditional knowledge books and patent examiners, safeguarding Indian traditional medicinal knowledge and thwarting its misappropriation at international patent offices.  The question of […]

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A Look Back at India’s Top IP Developments of 2023

/ By / Biological Diversity, Competition Law, Copyright, COVID-19, Geographical Indication, Others, Patent, Trademark, Traditional Knowledge

[This post has been co-authored with Jyotpreet Kaur, Tejaswini Kaushal, Praharsh Gour, and Swaraj Barooah].  As 2023 comes to an end, in line with our annual tradition, we take stock of the top IP developments that occurred this year. And as we move to the cusp of the new year, here’s to wishing our readers a very happy and healthy year ahead! As in previous years, we have divided these developments into five categories: a) Top 10 IP Judgements/Orders (Topicality/Impact)

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Where to lean on?  The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021 or the Landmark Cases?

/ By / Biological Diversity, Traditional Knowledge

[This post has been authored by Alphonsa Jojan. Alphonsa is currently pursuing her PhD in Law from the University of Newcastle, Australia.  She has a deep research interest in environmental law and policy. She has previously authored guest posts for us here and here.]  In light of the upcoming Diplomatic Conference on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resource and Traditional Knowledge, Prashant recently made some strong comments on the working of India’s Biological Diversity Act, stating that there are many lessons that the

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 13- March 18)

/ By / Copyright, Patent, Trade Secret, Trademark, Traditional Knowledge

Here are the quick summaries of 4 posts, 7 case summaries and other IP developments that took place last week. Important IP cases that we’re missing out on? Especially from other High Courts?  Please let us know so we can include them!   Highlights of the week IPD for Madras High Court! The Court Directs the State Government to Notify the Rules Within 1 Week IPD for Madras High Court! In a huge development, the Madras High Court has directed

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Webinar on ‘Traditional Knowledge as Intellectual Property: Opportunities and Challenges at the International Level’ [October 13]

/ By / Opportunities, Traditional Knowledge

We are pleased to inform you that the Microsoft IPR Chair and the DPIIT IPR Chair at Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar are jointly organising a webinar on ‘Traditional Knowledge as Intellectual Property: Opportunities and Challenges at the International Level’ on 13th October, 2021. Webinar on ‘Traditional Knowledge as Intellectual Property: Opportunities and Challenges at the International Level’ We are elated to announce that the Microsoft- IPR Chair-GNLU and DPIIT IPR Chair-GNLU are jointly organising a webinar on “Traditional

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Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Traditional Knowledge: Idealistic Expectations or Unworkable Ideas?

/ By / Patent, Traditional Knowledge

Continuing our series of posts on the Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Review of the IPR Regime in India, in this post I will be covering the Report’s recommendations on IPR and Traditional Knowledge (TK). The other posts on the Report can be found here, here, here, here, and here. Highlights from the Report The Committee Report’s observations on TK start off with a lament on how TK and indigenous inventions by grassroot level innovators often do not meet the

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A Parliamentary Standing Committee Report that Challenges the Fine Balances Within the IP System

/ By / Copyright, Geographical Indication, Patent, Plant Variety Protection, Trade Secret, Trademark, Traditional Knowledge

As some of our readers may have noted, a Parliamentary Standing Committee Report, titled ‘Review of the Intellectual Property Rights Regime in India’ was released on July 23, 2021. Though the report gives some word space to ‘public interest’ and similar concepts, the overall approach seems to be a very pro-industry one, with academia and civil society stakeholders not even being consulted, even though corporate trade groups’ and law firms’ views were heard (see para 2, introduction). The 153 page report

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Attars and Agarbattis: Protecting Traditional Cultural Expressions through Non-Conventional Trademarks

/ By / Overlaps in IP, Trademark, Traditional Knowledge

We are pleased to bring you a guest post by Tahhira Somal, exploring existing frameworks of non-conventional trademarks, particularly those of smell marks, and assessing their role in the protection of certain traditional cultural expressions. Tahhira has a degree in Global Affairs, and is a final year LLB student at the Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat.     Attars and Agarbattis: Protecting Traditional Cultural Expression through non-conventional Trademarks Tahhira Somal Nestled in Halsted, Chicago is a Michelin star restaurant that

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Enabling the Use of People’s Biodiversity Registers within Environmental Impact Assessments

/ By / Biological Diversity, Others, Traditional Knowledge

This post was co-authored by Dayaar Singla and myself. Dayaar is a final year student at NALSAR University of Law. He is an editor of the Indian Journal of Intellectual Property Law and the Editor-in-Chief of the Law and Other Things Blog, which Late Prof. Shamnad Basheer was an initial contributor to. In this post we look at recent changes to the creation of People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) as well as the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 notification to

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Cornrows and Cultural Appropriation: What is the Best Way to Protect Black Hairstyles?

/ By / Others, Traditional Knowledge

We’re pleased to bring to you another guest post by our fellowship applicant Adyasha Samal, discussing the problems with the approach of protecting traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) under existing IP regimes, using hairstyles as an example of a widely appropriated TCE. Adyasha is a 4th year student at Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur. This is her second submission for the Fellowship. Her previous guest post can be viewed here.   Cornrows and Cultural Appropriation: What is the Best Way to

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