2013

SpicyIP Weekly Review- (February Week 2)

/ By / Uncategorized

The week began with a two part post by Aparajita Lath on the impact of the digitization of content on the television, film and music industries. In the two posts, Aparajita analysed the growth trends in these industries with respect to output, revenues and creativity.  With respect to the music industry, a comparative analysis shows that sales, revenue, production and creation of new genres of music are on the rise despite digitization of music. The film and television industry are […]

SpicyIP Weekly Review- (February Week 2) Read More »

Why aren’t there any takers for compulsory licenses?

/ By / Patent

Last September, SpicyIP queried the Controller General of Patents relating to application filed with them seeking compulsory licenses (CL) under the Patents Act, 1970. Our primary motivation was to test the CL provisions amended in the post TRIPS era. The exact wording of the queries as below:  a. Please provide true copies of Form 17 applications filed by applicants for seeking compulsory license per Patents Act, 1970 Sections 84(1), 91, 92(1) read with Rule 96.  b. Please provide true copies

Why aren’t there any takers for compulsory licenses? Read More »

The 19 year war- Financial Times Ltd. v Times Publishing House: Before the Supreme Court

/ By / Uncategorized

The saga between Financial Times Ltd. (FTL) and Times Publishing House continues with the Supreme Court hearing the case for the first time in 19 years. As reported by the Mint, FTL filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court in 2011. The SLP was filed in order to obtain an adjournment of the appeal proceedings in the Karnataka High Court in connection with its ongoing trademark battle with Times Publishing House. In order to provide context, please read

The 19 year war- Financial Times Ltd. v Times Publishing House: Before the Supreme Court Read More »

RetractionWatch fiasco: Manipulation of DMCA notices to stifle criticism

/ By / Copyright

This post is about an Indian plagiarizer who has alleged that the original is a copy, and claimed copyright protection for his ‘original’ works using the DMCA.  Foul play against RetractionWatch:  A lot of published scientific reports and studies end up getting discredited for various reasons on a regular basis. These are consequently partially or wholly retracted. RetractionWatch is a blog solely dedicated to reporting retractions in the medical research field. Until Adam Marcus’ and Ivan Oransky’s RetractionWatch came into

RetractionWatch fiasco: Manipulation of DMCA notices to stifle criticism Read More »

IPAB directs IPO to accept national phase patent application originally filed with less fees

/ By / Uncategorized

In a recent decision issued by the IPAB, the Board in yet another excellent decision issued by Justices Sridevan and Parmar, has suggested to the patent office to implement a revised numbering scheme for applications.   The decision was issued in a case to direct the patent office to accept a national phase application filed with less than the prescribed fees.  (Decision).   In my view, the patent office has ducked a major issue for now: receiving extra fees from

IPAB directs IPO to accept national phase patent application originally filed with less fees Read More »

SpicyIP Events: MIP’s 2nd Annual India IP and Innovation Forum

/ By / Uncategorized

Managing IP will be holding its 2nd Annual India IP and Innovation Forum on March 7th, 2013 at Le Meridian, New Delhi. Please see more details below: “It is generally expected that despite economic difficulties in 2012, India is set to see a steady rate of improvement in 2013 where its business and innovation are concerned. Earlier this month a feature in the Financial Times stated that: ‘India’s prospects have now started to improve. Investors, economists and the government say

SpicyIP Events: MIP’s 2nd Annual India IP and Innovation Forum Read More »

New Unitary Patent System For Europe

/ By / Patent

On December 11, 2012, the European Parliament adopted two draft regulations on the creation of a new unitary patent system in Europe. The new unitary patent system, which is set to be introduced in 2014 has to be granted by the European Patent Office.  This unitary patent, which will coexist with the national patents as well as the classical European patent, will provide legal protection for the applicants in 25 member countries of the European Union through a single administrative

New Unitary Patent System For Europe Read More »

Is there a need to break up the cartels in the radio – music labels negotiations?

/ By / Competition Law

Image from here One of the biggest Indian copyright litigation cases in the last decade has been the compulsory licensing battles between the radio and music industries. The newly founded private radio stations, in 1999, had wanted access to music and could not agree with the music labels on a reasonably royalty.  One aspect of this litigation which intrigued me is the negotiating positions adopted by both sides. In the two rounds of litigation before the Copyright Board, the radio

Is there a need to break up the cartels in the radio – music labels negotiations? Read More »

Jailbreaking Sony Playstations To Be Illegal in India? – First Test of Newly Inserted S.65A of the Indian Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012

/ By / Copyright

  In an order passed earlier this year, the Delhi High Court passed an ex-parte injunction against the defendants for circumventing Technology Protection Measures (TPM’s) in the Sony Playstation 3 and other Sony game consoles. Given that the order was granted after the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 was passed (although prior to notification), this is the first case to legally recognise the introduction of digital locks in hardware or software to protect copyright in India.   Importantly, the defendants are

Jailbreaking Sony Playstations To Be Illegal in India? – First Test of Newly Inserted S.65A of the Indian Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 Read More »

Is the suit again the Registrar of Copyright maintainable under the law?

/ By / Copyright

Continuing from my earlier post today, available over here, I would like to briefly examine whether the lawsuit in question is even maintainable under the law as it stands.  To briefly recap, since August, 2012 there have been three rounds of litigation wherein music labels have sought judicial intervention to restrain the Registrar of Copyrights from carrying on an inquiry into the state of affairs at IPRS. They have managed to succeed in large measure by filing a civil suit

Is the suit again the Registrar of Copyright maintainable under the law? Read More »

Scroll to Top