Author name: Inika Charles

Inika is a fifth year student at National Law University, Jodhpur, and is on the founding Board of Editors of the Journal of Intellectual Property Studies. She has a strong interest in Intellectual Property, and is fascinated with the intersection of IP with Technology and Media law. You can contact her at [email protected], or on Twitter: @inikacharles

SpicyIP Weekly Review (December 4-10)

/ By / Others

At the outset, our apologies for the slightly delayed review! Our topical highlight of the week is Rajiv’s excellent  post on Samsung’s favourable ruling against Apple from the U.S Supreme Court. He notes that in a crisp, 10 page, and unanimous order, the Court overruled the Federal Circuit decision, holding that an “article of manufacture” need not be the end product, as was argued by Apple, and instead agreed with Samsung, holding that it could be an intermediate product. In […]

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‘Hey, Excuse me, Mr. Kandasamy’ – Madras HC Rules on Copyright Infringement of Song Lyrics

/ By / Copyright

On the 30th of September, 2016 – the Madras High Court passed a significant order on the copyright infringement of song lyrics in Susi Ganesan & Others v. Elango (the order is available here). Warning: long post ahead! Factual Background The Defendant, both an advocate practicing in the Madras High Court as well as a Tamil Lyricist, was hired by the Plaintiffs to compose the lyrics of a song titled ‘Hey, Excuse me, Mr. Kandasamy’ for their film ‘Kandasamy’. In accordance

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Bombay and Uttarakhand High Courts Clarify Points on Benefit Sharing under the Biological Diversity Act

/ By / Biological Diversity

Two recent orders from the High Courts of Bombay and Uttarakhand raise jurisdictional and substantive points relating to the benefit sharing mechanism provided for under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (‘BDA’) along with the Biodiversity Rules, 2004. Both cases discuss the alternative of taking the cases at hand to the National Green Tribunal (‘NGT’) instead, and examine its jurisdictional powers. Regular readers of the blog will recall our previous posts on the topic, but read here and here for some

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (October 23 -29)

/ By / Others

This week’s topical highlight is Balaji’s coverage of an MCI Notification that amended the  Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 to effectively make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe generic drugs, and preferably in capital letters. Balaji notes numerous unsuccessful approaches in the past to mandate generic prescription, that failed due to varying reasons such as concerns of drug quality, and the unavailability of generic drugs. He then effectively summarises the prospects for the implementation of

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Three Birds, One Stone: Inphase Power Technologies v. ABB India

/ By / Overlaps in IP, Patent, Trademark

In a fascinating case before the Karnataka High Court: Inphase Power Technologies v. ABB India (read the order here), Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar passed an order confirming the misappropriation of confidential information, patent infringement, and hold your breath – trademark infringement as well! Not to be left out, there were arguments advanced of alleged copyright infringement too, which were ultimately not taken up by the Court. This case is significant due to the parties involved, as there is an ongoing

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Brosnan’s ‘Pan’demonium – The Right of Publicity and a Possible Contractual Breach

/ By / Others, Trademark

Pan Bahar’s new advertisement featuring Pierce Brosnan was met with much incredulity, leading to his ridicule on social media. Brosnan reacted to the advertisement only about a week after it aired, to which Pan Bahar has now responded – leading to the present controversy. Brosnan told People that he was “deeply shocked and saddened” about his alleged endorsement of pan masala. He apologised, explaining that he has the “greatest love and affection for India and its people”; and clarified that

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Subsidies for Academic Publishing and Access to Education in Light of the DU Photocopy Case

/ By / Copyright

Prof. Satish Deshpande, a reputed sociology professor at the Delhi University, recently authored an enlightening piece in The Indian Express on the academic publishing ecosystem, titled ‘Copy-wrongs and the invisible subsidy’. In light of the on-going DU photocopy case, (read more on the background and our coverage of the case here) he examines how academic publishing actually receives an implicit and explicit subsidy from the intellectual commons. He notes that the case raises important questions on the ownership of works

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Gilead Releases Statement on EPO’s Sovaldi Decision

/ By / Patent

Continuing our coverage on the recent Sovaldi patent decision by the European Patent Office (EPO), Gilead sent us a statement clarifying certain details. I reproduce it below: “On October 5, 2016, the EPO’s Opposition Division upheld the European patent (EP 2203462) covering sofosbuvir in amended form. The opposition division reached this considered decision following two days of hearings where the opponents to the granting of this patent were given an opportunity to present all of their arguments contesting its validity.

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European Patent Office Amends Gilead’s Patent Claims on Sovaldi

/ By / Patent

In a major victory for public health, the European Patent Office (EPO) has amended Gilead’s patent claims on Sofosbuvir (branded as Sovaldi), used for the treatment of Hepatitis C. Ruling in an opposition proceeding filed by Medecins du Monde (MdM), the EPO held that Gilead’s patent claims “extended beyond the content of the patent application as filed”. A spokesperson for the EPO told Statnews that some of the patent claims were no longer admissible, and had been changed in scope. The

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Delhi HC formalizes injunction granted to 3M Innovative Properties against Venus Safety and Health Pvt. Ltd.

/ By / Patent

In a decision delivered on the 19th of September, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva of the Delhi High Court formalized an injunction that had been granted to 3M in 2014 in 3M Innovative Properties Ltd. v. Venus Safety and Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. (read the order here). The injunction prevents Venus from manufacturing medical/surgical masks that allegedly infringe 3M’s patent. The patent in dispute is for such a mask, or more specifically a “Flat Fold Personal Respiratory Protection Device” and the process to

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