Author name: Adyasha Samal

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

SpicyIP Weekly Review (June 7 – 13)

/ By / Copyright, Trademark

Topical Highlight Kerala and Karnataka Tussle Over the ‘KSRTC’ Mark: Registrability, Concurrent Use, and Infringement Nikhil discussed the recently revived controversy between the states of Karnataka and Kerala regarding the rights over the trademark ‘KSRTC’. He recounts the background of the usage of the mark for the states’ respective State Road Transport Corporations which led to a tussle when Karnataka applied for a registration for the mark and served a notice to Kerala in 2014 stating that they should not […]

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (May 17 – 23)

/ By / Copyright, Patent, Trademark

Topical Highlight Special 301 Report 2021: Trade Secrets, Patents and Technology Transfer Nikhil and I continued the discussion on three key aspects in the USTR Special 301 Report 2021: India-specific trade secrets and patents issues, and the general stance on technology transfers. We highlighted that the Report has tightened its stance on India’s trade secret regime, asking for stronger enforcement. Curiously, this contradicts its liberal approach towards compulsory licenses and the TRIPS waiver because a lot of key information on

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Special 301 Report 2021: Trade Secrets, Patents and Technology Transfer

/ By / COVID-19, Innovation, Patent, Trade Secret

[This post has been co-authored with Nikhil Purohit.] Recently, the Annual Special 301 Report on IP Protection (the ‘Report’) was released by the Office of the United States Trade Representative. In our earlier posts, we have discussed the US’s relaxed stance on compulsory licensing (here) and the India-specific copyright and enforcement related issues (here) as discussed in the Report. In continuation of the same, in this post, we shall analyse the discussion of three other key aspects in the Report: India-specific

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Special 301 Report 2021: US’s Great U-turn on Compulsory Licensing

/ By / COVID-19, Innovation, Patent

Lost in the shadow of the US’s historic change of position on Waiver of IP rights in Covid-19 vaccines, the USTR’s latest Annual Special 301 Report has its own share of surprises to offer. The Report, as is known, is a much criticized annual exercise in ‘calling out’ countries for adopting IP policies that the US does not approve of – regardless of the fact that they’re made by sovereign nations to suit their own local realities. India, which enjoys

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (May 3 – 9)

/ By / Copyright, Patent, Trademark

Topical Highlights Natco Files Compulsory Licence Application for Covid Drug Baricitinib? Swaraj wrote about Natco’s application for a compulsory license to manufacture the drug Baricitinib. He reports that the application points to studies showing that Baricitinib in combination with Remdesivir is more effective for patients with Covid 19, as compared to Remdesivir alone, with possibly less side effects as well. The drug is currently not manufactured in India, and less than 9000 tablets were imported in 2019 and 2020, with

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Delhi HC Issues Order on Tocilizumab Shortage, Seeks Patent Working Information from Roche

/ By / COVID-19, Drug Regulation, Patent

This evening, the Delhi High Court passed an interim order issuing important directions on the shortage of the drug Tocilizumab in Delhi hospitals. The case arose from a petition by the brother of a Covid-19 patient, who had been prescribed a tocilizumab injection (Actemra 400g) by the doctor, but could not be administered the same due to the unavailability of the drug. Owing to the rapidly deteriorating condition of the patient, the petitioner had approached the court with the urgent

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SC Issues Interim Order in Suo Motu COVID-19 Case: Raises Questions on Vaccine Procurement Process, Compulsory Licensing and More

/ By / COVID-19, Drug Regulation, Patent

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the Supreme Court’s first hearing in the suo motu Covid-19 case that took place on 30th April, discussing the questions raised by the bench. The interim order resulting from this hearing is now out. The order discusses the implementation of the Disaster Management Act, medical infrastructure, oxygen supply, vaccines, compulsory licensing, and supply of essential drugs. The court has examined the existing government policy on these issues and then asked questions and/or

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Supreme Court Weighs in on the Crisis: Vaccine Price Equity, Compulsory Licensing and Free Speech Online

/ By / COVID-19, Drug Regulation, Patent

After being heavily criticized for taking matters into its own hands by transferring matters related to the Covid-19 crisis from High Courts, the Supreme Court had its first hearing in the suo motu case on 30th April. A three-judge bench consisting of Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and Ravindra Bhat looked into a wide variety of issues such as Oxygen & Covid drugs shortage, (the lack of) equitable pricing of vaccines, protection of health workers, possibility of invoking compulsory

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (April 12 – 18)

/ By / Patent, Trademark

Topical Highlight Indian Govt. Permits Manufacture of Covaxin by Haffkine Institute – But Why Not Others Too? Praharsh and Swaraj consider the recent Central Government approval of Haffkine Institute for manufacturing Covaxin, on a ‘technology transfer’ basis, for a period of one year to address the vaccine shortage in the country. They highlight that the wording of the current ‘approval’ seems to indicate that the Central Government has the rights to be able to give the permission. However, it leaves

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (April 5 – 11)

/ By / Copyright, Innovation, Patent, Trademark

Topical Highlights SCOTUS Decision in Google v. Oracle: Distorting ‘Fair Use’ but the Scathing (and Logical) Dissent is the One Saving Grace In Part I, Adarsh summarizes the recent SCOTUS ruling on Google’s copying of roughly 11,500 lines of code relating to 37 software packages forming part of Sun Java API, owned by Oracle. The court renders no finding on copyrightability and has restricted itself to the question of fair use by undertaking the four-factor analysis. On ‘Nature of the

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