Author name: Aparajita Lath

Aparajita is an Assistant Professor at the National Law School of India, Bangalore. She graduated from the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata and Harvard Law School (LL.M). She has worked at AZB & Partners and Trilegal. She was also a Student Fellow at the Petrie-Flom Centre at Harvard Law School.

Madras HC: Prosthetics patent and design infringement case

/ By / Design, Patent

The following post discusses a patent and design infringement case (M.C. Jayasingh Vs. Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI) rep. by its Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals) decided by the Madras High Court in January 2014. The court upheld the validity of the patent and design but also found no infringement by the defendants. [*long post] Facts The plaintiff along with Professor Mayilvahanan Natarajan (co-patentee) invented various prosthetics for limb salvage surgery. Made of titanium alloy or medical grade stainless steel, ‘Custom […]

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Expired Patents, Injunctions and Commercialization

/ By / Patent

The following post discusses two recent patent cases where the relief of permanent injunction became infructuous due to the expiration of the impugned patents. A related issue of commercialization of patents is also briefly discussed. U. Varadaraya Nayak v S.K. Anand, Del HC: In this case, the patentee a retired school teacher obtained a patent for an invention titled ‘twin blade razor’. The inventive feature of the blade was the “novel manner in which the holes are positioned in relation

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Natco files pre-grant opposition to Gilead’s Sovaldi

/ By / Patent

In a move to block Gilead’s patent on Sovaldi in India, Natco has filed a pre-grant opposition to its pending application. Reuters reports that the opposition has been made on the ground that the drug is not “inventive”. Fairy tales have taught us that all magic comes at a price. Little do we realize that this lesson can apply in the real world! Sovaldi, hailed a ‘wonder drug’ with a purported cure rate of 90% for Hepatitis C and a short duration

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Mylan’s review petition before the Indian Patent office dismissed

/ By / Patent

Recently, a review petition filed by Mylan Laboratories in relation to a patent granted to Yeda Research Development was dismissed by the Indian Patent Office. The Controller held: 1. Mylan has no locus standi, 2. The petition was delayed by 10 year and 3. The matter was sub judice before the Delhi HC. The main contention related to whether the IPO wrongly applied the 2002 amendment instead of the 1970 provisions to Yeda’s patent application thereby erroneously granting it a

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Journalistic Privileges and Regulation of Blogs

/ By / Others

(This post has been co authored with Gopika) The Internet, especially blogs, has become a powerful force in the distribution of information. This new medium challenges the way traditional media distributes and deals with information and news. Reminiscent of the bustling coffee houses, blogs are often centers of vigorous conversation and providecitizens with a platform to question and debate legal, social, economic and cultural events. In retaliation to transparency and effective distribution of news and information by blogs, corporate giants

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No More Nomadic: IPAB Delhi Gets a Permanent Office

/ By / Others

The wandering IPAB Delhi was given a ride home by an order of the Delhi HC which directed the setting up of a permanent place in Delhi for the IPAB to carry on its functions. The Asian Patent Attorneys Association (Indian Group) filed a writ petition highlighting the inconvenience caused due to the absence of a permanent office in Delhi. Though the IPAB conducts hearings in five cities: Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai, except for Chennai, the government has

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Abuse of dominance: obtaining fraudulent ex parte interim injunctions for designs and copyrights

/ By / Others

A recent CCI order (here) exposes the many dangers of ex parte interim injunctions in relation to IP matters. JCB was held to be abusing its dominant position as it was misusing judicial processes to curb competition. Background Bull Smart Machines Pvt Ltd is a small scale industry engaged in manufacturing low cost loaders, a light construction equipment. Bull Smart filed a complaint before the CCI against JCB, India’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment. It was alleged that JCB was

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Trademark Infringement of Labels and Logos: Which Colour Do You Chose?

/ By / Trademark

The respondents (Ricard) are world No.2 in the wines and spirits market, having an international presence in around 110 countries. The appellant (Real House Distillery) on the other hand, sell their alcoholic beverages only in the State of Goa. The respondents sell an anise flavoured aperitif (an alcoholic drink taken before a meal to stimulate appetite) under the label/logo “Ricard”.  The appellant claims it does not sell anise flavoured aperitifs under the label/logo “Real”. The respondent’s product is priced at

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Trademark Parallel Imports: Delhi HC on the Marlboro Trademark case

/ By / Trademark

People say that the world isn’t “black and white”; that there are many shades in between, of which, the grey areas usually raise difficult questions. This belief applies even in the world of Intellectual Property Rights. Parallel imports i.e. lawful import of a genuine trademarked product without the permission of the proprietor thereby creating a trade channel that runs parallel to the proprietors authorized trade channel, is usually called a ‘grey market’ import (see here). Such imports are not ‘black’

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NCAER Report on Parallel Imports OUT!

/ By / Copyright

The National Council of Applied Economic Research has released its much awaited report on the Impact of Parallel Imports on Copyrighted Works. Stakeholders can send in comments by 21st March 2014 and comments will be reviewed by the NCAER on 26th March 2014. The report adequately considers the opposing views of the producers as well as the consumers. It also urges all the stakeholders to amicably, through a healthy exchange of views, come to an optimal solution to the parallel

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