2021

Fonts and Typefaces: Are they Copyrightable? 

/ By / Copyright

We’re happy to bring you a guest post by Shivam Kaushik on the copyrightability of fonts. Shivam is a recent law graduate of the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He has previously written several guest posts for us, titled ‘Jhund’ Injunction Order: Copyright and Personality Rights in Real Life Stories, ‘Copyright and Webinars: Ownership, Licensing and Fair Use’ , ‘Govt’s Draft Model Guidelines on Implementation of IPR Policy for Academic Institutions – A Critique‘, ‘Reengineering of the Requirement of Disclosure of Foreign […]

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India’s Accession to the Locarno Agreement: Amendments to the Design Rules, 2001 & Other Impacts

/ By / Design

We are pleased to bring you a guest post by Yashi Agrawal on India’s recent accession to the Locarno Agreement, discussing inter alia the resultant amendments to India’s design laws and prospective benefits to India on becoming a part of the Locarno Special Union and Assembly. Yashi is a fourth year student at the Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur. India’s Accession to the Locarno Agreement: Amendments to the Design Rules, 2001 & Other Impacts Yashi Agrawal June 7, 2019 was

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Call for Applications: Research Positions at Center for Communication Governance (CCG) at NLU, Delhi

/ By / Opportunities

We’re pleased to inform you that the Centre for Communication Governance at the National Law University Delhi is inviting applications for various research positions. For further details, please see the announcement below. Call for Applications: Research Positions at CCG The National Law University Delhi (‘University’), through its Centre for Communication Governance (‘CCG’/’Centre’) is inviting applications for various research positions across both its teams on a (i) full time basis as a CCG researcher and/or managerial role, and (ii) part time

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Back from the Dead? Parliamentary Committee on IP suggests against scrapping of IPAB

/ By / Copyright, Design, Geographical Indication, Patent, Plant Variety Protection, Trademark

One may recall the scene in Macbeth where he encounters the ghost of his former friend Banquo and exclaims in disbelief. I am sure many would have exclaimed with similar sentiment after reading the suggestions of the recent Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Review of IPR regime in India, which suggests re-institution of IPAB. At the outset, let me clarify, I am in no way against the idea of having a dedicated IP court, which will ensure timely disposal of

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 19 – 26)

/ By / Copyright, Patent, Trademark

Topical Highlight Fear Won’t Take You Anywhere: Delhi HC Revisits Bolar Exception, Rules Apprehensions Cannot Deny Liberty under Section 107A In this post, Praharsh discussed the recent Delhi High Court order vacating an ex-parte interim injunction, allowing the SMS Pharmaceuticals to export Merck’s patented anti-diabetic drug ‘Sitagliptin’ for R&D purposes. He first summarises the key findings of the order. He then analysed the order and argued that the court rightly denied the plaintiff’s excessively restrictive interpretation of Section 107A, and

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generic stock photo

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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Do Ashok Kumar Orders Conform to Principles of Equity?

/ By / Copyright

We’re pleased to bring to you a post by our Fellowship applicant Nishtha Gupta, analysing ‘Ashok Kumar’ injunctions as equitable reliefs. Nishtha is a 4th year B.A. LL.B. student at the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. Do Ashok Kumar Orders Conform to Principles of Equity? Nishtha Gupta Recently the Delhi High Court, in the case of Sony Pictures v. Sportsala TV passed an order restraining and prohibiting over 50 defendants from streaming, broadcasting and making available any content over which

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Man spraying vegetables with pesticides

Pesticide Patents: Not ‘Working’ Out?

/ By / Patent

Around 15-20% of India’s crop produce every year is lost to factors such as pests and diseases. Pesticides, thus, play an important role in the Indian agriculture sector. While there is a high prevalence of generic alternatives, the agrochemicals industry in India is observing an increase in the number of patent applications filed. Even outside of patents, the players in the pesticide industry have consistently been pushing for TRIPS+ protections such as extended data exclusivity (see here, here, and here).

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Fear Won’t Take You Anywhere: Delhi HC Revisits Bolar Exception, Rules Apprehensions Cannot Deny Liberty under Section 107A

/ By / Patent

The Delhi High Court in an order dated 20th July, 2021 vacated an ex-parte interim injunction (pdf), allowing the SMS Pharmaceuticals to export Merck’s patented anti-diabetic drug ‘Sitagliptin’ for R&D purposes on the condition that it files an affidavit mentioning the quantities of the drug exported and undertaking that the export is only for the above said purpose. While coming to this understanding, the court relied extensively on the Single Judge’s and Division Bench’s decisions in Bayer v. Union of

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 12 – 18)

/ By / Others

Topical Highlight The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021: Overbroad, Disproportionate and Unnecessary In this post, Adyasha analyses the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021 (‘Bill’) which seeks ‘to tackle the menace of film piracy’, and is a revision of the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2019. She notes that the most controversial provision in the new Bill is the re-introduction of revisionary powers of the Central Government to direct the CBFC Chairman to reexamine an already certified film. She also highlights another surprising change i.e.,

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