Author name: Adyasha Samal

Adyasha is a graduate from Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur.

SpicyIP Weekly Review (September 27 – October 3)

/ By / Copyright, Drug Regulation, Geographical Indication, Patent, Trademark

Zolgensma and the Inadequacies of the Compulsory Licensing Regime In a guest post, Akhil wrote about Zolgensma, Novartis’ gene therapy medication prescribed for treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (‘SMA’). Akhil discusses the compulsory licensing provisions in the TRIPS Agreement, as well as the objectives and principles relating to safeguarding public interest in Articles 7 and 8 and how they find reflection in India’s Patent Act. Breaking down the 3 tests of reasonably meeting the requirements of public, reasonable affordability and …

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ASĀVA v. RAMPUR ASAWA: Bombay HC Sets the Record Straight on Deceptive Similarity

/ By / Trademark

A few months back, a Single Judge bench of the Bombay High Court delivered what has now been revealed to be a very problematic decision on deceptive similarity in alcoholic beverage trademarks. Brought to light upon being set aside by the Division Bench, this decision rendered findings that threatened to set dangerous precedents on what constitutes a trademark, and how deceptive similarity is evaluated. In this post, I revisit the Single Judge’s ruling and underscore the ways in which the …

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (August 30 – September 5)

/ By / Copyright, Design, Patent, Trademark

The End of the IPAB and Lessons on Concentration of Judicial Powers Prashant wrote about how the now scrapped IPAB has always been in the news for mostly the wrong reasons, ranging from a lack of independence to a lack of appointments to poor quality of appointments to illegal appointments to a lack of resources. He situates this within the larger issue of concentration of judicial power in the hands of the few judges staffing a relevant IP tribunal or …

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (August 2 – 8)

/ By / Copyright, Opportunities, Others, Patent, Privacy

Madras HC on the Right to be Forgotten: A Welcome Development? In Part I of a two-part guest post, Sriya Sridhar discussed a Madras High Court case where the petitioner sought his name to be redacted from a judgment in a case where he was ultimately acquitted of allegations relating to offences under Section 417 (Cheating) and Section 376 (Rape) of the IPC. He claimed that he is entitled to redaction of his name from the judgment given that he …

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Dapagliflozin Patent Receives Another Blow: Same Old Coverage-Disclosure Story

/ By / Patent

Last month, the Delhi HC refused to interfere with two orders by Shakdher J. and Gupta J. denying injunctions to AstraZeneca against 9 generic drugmakers manufacturing its anti-diabetic drug Dapagliflozin. While the issues and arguments are largely the same as the earlier order I discussed in November, the court has made some interesting observations about the nature of a patentee’s exclusive right. An important point the court made was to reprimand the appellants for bringing two different sets of suits …

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Parliamentary Standing Committee and Copyright Reform: One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

/ By / Copyright, Innovation

As most readers must be aware by now, the Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on India’s IP regime has revealed a problematic, maximalist approach to IP protection, showing no more than a tokenistic appreciation of public interest considerations. Some of the glaring issues with the Report have been highlighted by Prof Scaria (here) and Praharsh (here). In the 6 odd pages devoted to the reform of the Copyright regime, a grand total of 5 statutory issues have been highlighted despite the …

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The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021: Overbroad, Disproportionate and Unnecessary

/ By / Copyright

Last month, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting received severe criticism from the film industry, free speech advocates, and the public when it announced the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021 (‘Bill’). This new Bill, which seeks ‘to tackle the menace of film piracy’, is a revision of the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2019 – an earlier version that suffered from several logical and policy issues of its own, as highlighted by Divij, here. While the most controversial provision in the new Bill …

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (July 5-11)

/ By / Copyright, Geographical Indication, Innovation, Opportunities, Patent, Privacy, Trade Secret, Trademark

Topical Highlight IPAB Issue Finally Comes to a Conclusion: Delhi HC Creates Specialist IP Division Varsha reported the significant development that the Delhi High Court issued a press release stating its plan to create an Intellectual Property Division (IPD) in the Delhi High Court. After the Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance 2021, disbanded the IPAB and transferred its powers to the High Courts and Commercial Courts, the IPD has been constituted on the basis of the recommendations …

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After Natco’s Withdrawal, Bajaj Healthcare files for Compulsory License to Manufacture Baricitinib

/ By / COVID-19, Patent

A recent report by The Print revealed that Indian drugmaker Bajaj Healthcare (‘BH’) has applied to the Patent Office for a compulsory license to manufacture Eli Lilly’s Baricitinib. At the moment, the application itself or any response from Eli Lilly to its filing is unavailable, but the report provides details of the circumstances surrounding it. Baricitinib, which is originally an arthritis drug, has more recently been used in combination with Remdesivir to treat Covid-19 patients for better results than what …

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Singh & Singh Strikes to become King… Again: Trademark Infringement, but from Canada?

/ By / Trademark

Recently, in what appeared to be a rather conspicuous case of identical names, the Delhi High Court temporarily restrained the Canada-based law firm, ‘Singh + Singh Lawyers LLP’ (‘S&S Canada’) from infringing the trademark of the reputed Indian law firm, ‘Singh & Singh Law firm LLP’ (‘S&S India’). ‘Singh’ is not only an extremely common surname in India, it is also prevalent among legal practitioners. Expectably, this was not the first time it featured in a trademark dispute for legal …

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