2008

Barry Trotter, Hairy Potty & the Free Speech Defense to Trademark Infringement

/ By / Trademark

Over the last week or so Sumathi’s incisive posts, on the issue of Warner Bros suing the makers of Hari Puttar for trademark infringement, have had me thinking over some of the issues associated with parodies. Over the years J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has spurned more than its fair share of literary parodies. In fact Wikipedia has a full article dedicated to the various parodies of Harry Potter. The ones that caught my attention were Barry Trotter and The Shameless […]

Barry Trotter, Hairy Potty & the Free Speech Defense to Trademark Infringement Read More »

India’s Bayh Dole Bill: A Stitch in Haste Leads to Waste

/ By / Uncategorized

SciDev.Net (Science and Development Network), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing reliable and authoritative information about science and technology for the developing world, commissioned me to write a short note on India’s Bayh Dole bill, which I reproduce below. We’ve been tracking this bill for a while now, and despite our best efforts (and those of several leading journalists in India who have covered this issue), the government continues to keep this bill a “secret”. Indian patent bill: Let’s not

India’s Bayh Dole Bill: A Stitch in Haste Leads to Waste Read More »

J Mitra v. Controller of Patents: Patently Confusing!

/ By / Patent

The Business Standard carries a report on a case (J Mitra & Co. v. Asst. Controller of Patents SLP No. 15729 of 2008) that Shamnad had brought to my notice some time back… I’m therefore clubbing my analysis of the case with the report: The facts of this case are best understood in tabular form (given the number of dates involved). In short however, the facts are as quite simple. J Mitra filed for a patent and after the patent

J Mitra v. Controller of Patents: Patently Confusing! Read More »

Hari Puttar: the saga continues

/ By / Trademark

Arguments in the Hari Puttar/Harry Potter case have been continuing over the past three days. The plaintiffs (Warner Bros.) have ended their arguments, and the defendants (Mirchi Movies et al) began on Thursday. A brief overview of what has ensued thus far follows. The petitioner’s case, as pointed out in a response to comments made in the previous post, is on grounds of the doctrine of Initial Interest Confusion. The general doctrine is premised upon ‘the use of another’s trademark

Hari Puttar: the saga continues Read More »

Mere filing does not constitute Cause of Action in Passing off

/ By / Trademark

In a recent dismissal (5th Aug) of an application for Special Leave to Appeal, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the mere filing of an application for registration of a Trade Mark does not constitute cause of action in a suit for passing off. The appeal [K. Narayanan and Anr. v. S Murali, Civil Appeal Nos. 4480-4481 of 2002] was filed against the decision of the High Court of Madras on the 18th of April, 2002. The facts in brief

Mere filing does not constitute Cause of Action in Passing off Read More »

The Public Funded R&D Bill: Does India Need a Bayh Dole – II

/ By / Uncategorized

“What are the constitutional obligations on the State when it takes action in exercise of its statutory or executive power? Is the State entitled to deal with its property in any manner it likes or award a contract to any person it chooses without any Constitutional limitation upon it?” What are the parameters of the statutory or executive power in the manner of awarding a contract or dealing with its property?” — Justice Bhagwati in R.D Shetty v. Airport Authority

The Public Funded R&D Bill: Does India Need a Bayh Dole – II Read More »

Novartis "Glivec" Case: Supreme Court In Favour of a "Technical" IPAB

/ By / Uncategorized

Joe C Mathew, a leading pharma/patent analyst with the Business Standard has this very interesting account of the Supreme Court proceedings in the Novartis case. He notes in pertinent part that: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday suggested that the Centre should consider having an expert member on the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) that reviews decisions of the Indian patent office. Hearing the case, Justice SH Kapadia and Justice B Sudershan Reddy suggested that the central government should consider the

Novartis "Glivec" Case: Supreme Court In Favour of a "Technical" IPAB Read More »

SpicyIP Tidbit: The G.I juggernaut Rolls On

/ By / Uncategorized

The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in association with the USPTO will be organizing a number of road shows between the 3rd and 30th of September aimed at promoting awareness of the G.I rights. The first of such shows will be held in the tribal areas of the North East, Kota and Bhubhaneshwar These road shows on GI will be a first of its kind in the country and will help to reach out to Various Stakeholders of Geographical Indication

SpicyIP Tidbit: The G.I juggernaut Rolls On Read More »

Two Indians in the Managing Intellectual Property’s Most Influential.

/ By / Uncategorized

Leading IP Magazine Managing Intellectual Property (which you may access from the link on our blog) has come out with a list of Asia-Pacific’s 50 most influential people. With the Director General of the WHO, Magaret Chan heading the list, it comes as no surprise that two very capable countrymen of our own are in the top 10 of the compiled list- NN Prasad and Kapil Sibal. “Naresh Prasad has the challenging task of ensuring that the country’s IP infrastructure

Two Indians in the Managing Intellectual Property’s Most Influential. Read More »

SpicyIP Tidbits: Global Coalition Against Software Patents

/ By / Uncategorized

Guess the Mombattiwalas will have a field day. Here’s the excerpt from a post on Readerlist: “A global coalition of more than 80 software companies, associations and developers has declared the 24th of September to be the “World Day Against Software Patents”. Five years ago, on 24 September 2003, the European Parliament adopted amendments to limit the scope of patent law and thereby protect small software companies from the harmful effects of broad and trivial software patents. A global petition

SpicyIP Tidbits: Global Coalition Against Software Patents Read More »

Scroll to Top