SpicyIP Weekly Review (October 22-28)

Thematic Highlight

First up, Dr. Dierkes’s and Dr. Sharma, on the German grant of Compulsory License of “raltegavir“, lucidly compares the law between the German and Indian jurisprudence.

Their discussion points were as follows:

i. A brief introduction to CLs.
ii. Events leading up to the German grant of the CL.
iii. German Jurisprudence concerning interpretation of “public interest“.
iv. Comparison of German CL Jurisprudence with India’s.

Then, Prof. Basheer lamented media misreporting and the lack of nuance in media reportage, basing his analysis on the media’s misconstruing of Mr. Gopal Sankarnarayanan’s arguments in the recent Right to Privacy case. Over the course of the piece, Prof. Basheer delineated Mr. Gopal’s arguments to show how he wasn’t exactly arguing “against” a fundamental Right to Privacy, as was portrayed in the media. SpicyIP has reported on the issue earlier over here, here, here, here, here and here.

Topical Highlight

Mr. Adarsh Ramanujan’s guest post, discussing the recent Federal Circuit decision in the patent validity case between Amgen v. Sanofi.

Discussing antigens and antibody patents, he covered the following areas:

i. Relevance of post-priority documents.
ii. The “newly characterized antigen test”.
iii. The “public interest” analysis while granting injunctions.
iv. The effects of the decision on antigen developers.

Other Posts

Next, Divij brought to your attention the commencement of the “Open Access Week”. Between October 23^rd & 29^th, the event serves as an opportunity to bring together open access enthusiasts for discussions, lectures, conferences, et cetera. This year’s events, themed “Open in Order to…”, were geared to identify concrete benefits that accrue out of open access to scholarly outputs.

Following which, I brought you a report of all the recent Orders passed by the SC Bench of J. Gogoi and J. Sinha concerning the tackling of pendency issues in the Delhi HC. Readers would be interested to note that the Bench initiated a Suo Moto Writ Petition: “Case Management of Original Suits” to structure mechanisms for efficient disposal of suits.  

Events

Shrujan 2017 (IP Fest).
November 18^th-November 18^th (2017).
Nirma University, Ahmedabad.
More details here.

Other Developments

Indian 

Judgments/Orders

1. Super Cassettes Industries v. HRCN Cable Network– Delhi High Court [October 9, 2017]The court issued an ex-parte permanent injunction restraining the Defendants, HRCN Cable Networks, from infringing the copyright of the Plaintiff by broadcasting the Plaintiff’s cinematographic films, and underlying literary and musical works on their cable network, which were otherwise being sold by the Plaintiff under the brand name T-Series. It also granted compensation of Rs.16,20,000 to the Plaintiff for the losses incurred by it.
2. Tata Sons Limited v. Sunil Kumar Jangra & Others– Delhi High Court [October 9, 2017]The court issued an ex-parte permanent injunction restraining the Defendants from advertising, engaging in packaging or storage of goods and moving them under the name ‘TATA’. The Defendants had started a service under the name ‘TATA Safe Packers and Movers’ which the court held was confusingly and deceptively similar to the Plaintiff’s registered trademark and thereby, amounted to infringement.

News

1. DIPP launches logo contest for Geographical Indications.
2. WTO: Ending ban on IP cases is prescrition for more disputes.
3. “Supreme”, “Supremo” battle ends.
4. 66 Weavers get nod to use GI tag for Jamdani.
5. Delhi HC tells Saregama-Eros infringement parties to approach Calcutta HC.
6. HC permits Ericsson plea for confidential club in Patent case.
7. Patent for PVC 13.
8. Chakhesang Shawl gets GI tag.
9. India will not cross red lines on generic drugs in RCEP, but stay vigilant, say officials.

International

1. Apple, Samsung to head back to court in Patent case.
2. Apple, others warn EU over patent fee structures that favour Ericsson, Qualcomm.
3. New Zealand Political Party infringes Eminem Copyright.