2014

India on International Piracy Watch-list; Reasons include presence on watch-list

/ By / Copyright

In yet another unilaterally decided list, a caucus of US Congressmen have named India as one of four countries on their “International Creativity and Theft-prevention Caucus Watchlist”. The other three countries named are China, Russia and (surprisingly) Switzerland. The Congressmen include Bob Goodlatte, a co-author and sponsor of the infamous SOPA bill. For India, they state, “Despite a large domestic creative industry in film, music, and other copyright intensive industries, India continues to lag badly in both the legal framework for protection […]

India on International Piracy Watch-list; Reasons include presence on watch-list Read More »

Mainstreaming delinkage

/ By / Innovation

At the 67th World Health Assembly Last month saw the occurrence of a development which, even if small and under-reported, I would consider to be of significant importance – when the 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) announced a decision to give the World Health Organization (WHO) Secretariat a mandate to create a pool fund that will allow the price of a drug to be delinked from the R&D costs involved in creating that drug. Though the fund is to be

Mainstreaming delinkage Read More »

Introducing Prashant’s article in LI on judicial reforms

/ By / Others

 Prashant has recently given an excellent opinion in LI titled ‘To fix the most fundamental problems of the Indian judiciary, we must finish what Fali & others started’. As someone who advocates quality, outcome oriented reforms in judiciary; I strongly recommend this write-up to the legal fraternity. The present government, which came to power on a strong mandate, enjoys an unparalleled opportunity to address the serious lacunae in the justice delivery mechanism – especially when Mr. Arun Jaitley and Mr. Ravi Shankar

Introducing Prashant’s article in LI on judicial reforms Read More »

Tesla motors open source initiative and the Future of Intellectual Property

/ By / Innovation, Patent

Recently in a welcome development Tesla motors made an announcement that it will not initiate lawsuits against anyone who in good faith wants to make use of their patented electric car technology. Nikola Tesla would have been proud!  To use the inimitable phraseology of the legendary Nikola tesla    “I don’t care that they stole my idea; I care that they don’t have any of their own” The majority cheered Tesla’s open source initiative; however some cynics maintained that the patent pledge uses

Tesla motors open source initiative and the Future of Intellectual Property Read More »

Guest Post: When (C) meets CM

/ By / Copyright

Yesterday, the Hindu carried an article on what seems to be some egregious copyright claim over some classical Carnatic compositions. Much earlier, Sumathi had written a post for us on the bootlegging of some classical Carnatic performances (where, incidentally most artists turned a convenient blind eye) but I don’t think we’ve come across an instance like the present one where recording companies seem to be claiming copyright over classical Carnatic compositions and getting material taken down from Youtube! That too, despite the

Guest Post: When (C) meets CM Read More »

SPICY IP TIDBIT: Zee News’ YouTube Channel Terminated Briefly

/ By / Copyright

Recently, Zee News (one of India’s leading news channels) found itself in a soup when its YouTube channel was terminated by YouTube amid “multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement.” It is understood that the account was terminated on 24th June and was reinstated as of 25th June, 2014. In the absence of an official statement from Zee News Ltd. or YouTube in this regard, the reasons for the reinstatement are not clear. YouTube accounts may be terminated due to ‘repeated

SPICY IP TIDBIT: Zee News’ YouTube Channel Terminated Briefly Read More »

Call for Natural Justice Fellowship Program Applications and Internship Applications

/ By / Event

Natural Justice, a reputed international NGO working towards biodiversity conservation and strengthening local communities, has called for applications for the Natural Justice Fellowship Program and the Internship program. Note that the Fellowship carries with it a monthly honorarium of twenty thousand rupees. 4 July 2014 is the deadline for the fellowship program. The internship positions are unpaid. Internship applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. For details, see here. As I know from various sources, Natural Justice is a

Call for Natural Justice Fellowship Program Applications and Internship Applications Read More »

SpicyIP Weekly Review (16-22 June, 2014)

/ By / Others

The SpicyIP Story of the Week is that Roche and Cipla have been ordered by the Delhi High Court to engage in mediation. It was noted by Madhulika in the post that with the ruling, while an opportunity to evolve patent jurisprudence on a vital matter has been lost, this case may also bring with it a high possibility of settlement as the Delhi High court ruling was 50-50- with validity upheld in favour of Roche and Cipla was acquitted

SpicyIP Weekly Review (16-22 June, 2014) Read More »

INTA’s 136th Annual Meeting- a Summary

/ By / Sponsored, Trademark

  Earlier last month, International Trademark Association (INTA) successfully concluded its 136th Annual Meeting. SpicyIP is glad to bring to our readers some of the highlights of the event, as provided to us by Simran Daryanani, INTA’s India representative:  India makes its presence felt in Hong Kong On May 14th the International Trademark Association (INTA) wrapped up its 136th Annual Meeting. 8,605 IP professionals from over 150 countries traveled to Hong Kong for INTA’s first Annual Meeting in Asia, making

INTA’s 136th Annual Meeting- a Summary Read More »

Delhi High Court Grants Punitive Damages Ex-Parte in Two Cases

/ By / Copyright, Trademark

The Delhi High Court through J. Sistani delivered two judgements in trademark passing off and infringement suits that imposed punitive damages upon the defendants for their actions. In both situations the cases were decreed ex parte against the defendants. I shall deal with both of these disputes together in this post. Permanent injunctions were granted against the respective defendants in both cases. 1. Jockey International Inc. & Anr. v. R. Chandra Mohan & Ors. [Text of the judgment] Facts: The

Delhi High Court Grants Punitive Damages Ex-Parte in Two Cases Read More »

Scroll to Top