(Disclaimer: The first 6 paras (about 422 words) are off-topic) Imagine the plight of a 6 year old having to suffer a burly guy sitting next to him in a movie hall who’s laughing his head off, stopping embarrassingly short of rolling in the aisles. To add to the kid’s woes, his parents care a hoot about his plight and it’s dark all around except for the light from the movie screen and mobile phones. I don’t know who the […]
In the last post, Mr.Basheer has proposed a new way of dealing with the anomalies in practice when it comes to applying Section 21 of the Patents Act. The general opinion among patent practitioners is that the provision is used to unfairly get an applicant to “abandon” his application since there is no time limit on how long the patent office can sit on the application without responding to the applicant. It appears that there is something else interesting as
Sanctity of Section 21 Read More »
Does copyright subsist in a patent specification? The answer to this may seem obvious to most, but I did rather articulate on the obvious clearly than overlook something clearly obvious. In Catnic Components Ltd. & Anr. v. Hill and Smith Ltd. (1978), it was held by the UK High Court (Chancery Division) that copyright in a patent specification ceases to subsist upon publication of the patent application. This UK judgment is well-known for its use of the “pith and marrow”
Copyright in a Patent Specification (?) Read More »
First things first, SpicyIP wishes its readers (and others too) a Merry Christmas! Is abandonment of an application under Section 21 of the Patents Act an appealable decision under Section 117A of the Act? This was the question that arose before the IPAB in Accenture Global Services GmBH and BT Group Inc v. Controller General of Patents. The facts of the case are as follows: 1. An application for a patent was filed at the Patent Office in Delhi claiming
Does there lie an Appeal from S.21 of the Patents Act? Read More »
The Ram Kumar dual SIM case has been discussed extensively on SpicyIP; a judgment was delivered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court this August involving Ram Kumar’s patent in which a declaratory judgment was sought by Micromax Informatics Ltd. under Section 105 of the Patents Act, 1970. The brief background leading to the case is as follows:1. Ram Kumar has a patent (214388) on a dual SIM technology which allows the user to use both the SIM cards simultaneously
SS.105 and 106 of the Patents Act Read More »
According to a news report, the Copyright Board has closed hearings for this year and the next date is scheduled sometime next March. For the last 18 months, the Copyright Board has been dealing with the issue of royalties to be fixed for the radio industry, and no decision has been arrived at as yet. Apparently, in the last two day session, only 3 witnesses from the radio industry were cross examined leaving the industry dismayed at the pace with
SpicyIP Tidbit: Copyright Board: Need for Speed Read More »
A decision was delivered by the Delhi High Court in September on amendment of patent claims in a case between AGC Flat Glass (Plaintiff/Patentee) and Anand Mahajan and Ors (Defendants). This is one of those rare instances where claim construction principles have been elucidated upon by an Indian Court and SpicyIP thanks Kamakhya for bringing this decision to our notice. This decision comes out of an interim application made by the plaintiff to amend the specification of its patent during
Claim Construction III: Amendment of Patent Claims under Section 58 Read More »
It was reported in the Business Standard yesterday that the Madras High Court has recorded 17 issues, 8 by Bajaj and 9 by TVS, to be argued before it in the twin spark plug ignition patent dispute. Foreign experts too are expected to be brought in for the case by both sides. Among the issues that TVS has raised, one is if a lean air fuel mixture constitutes an essential element of the patent as claimed by Bajaj. Among the
SpicyIP Tidbit: Madras HC Records Issues in Bajaj-TVS Patent Dispute Read More »
According to the patent office website, the patent agent examination is scheduled to be held on the 23rd of January, 2010 (which incidentally coincides with Netaji’s birthday) followed by viva-voce on the 24th. For more details on the pattern of the exam, please visit the hyperlink above.
SpicyIP Tidbit: Patent Agent Examination Read More »
“Don’t Be Evil” apparently is the unofficial slogan of Google; though, it isn’t clear if this Hammurabic finger-wagging precept is Google’s pearl of wisdom to the rest of the world or if it is directed inwards to monitor itself… (by the way, those who may be interested in tracing the origins of the expression “wagging the finger”, check this out). Anyways, most IP aficionados would be aware of the raging controversy surrounding the Google Books Settlement; for others, here’s a
Google Book Settlement- Indian Government Protests…Finally Read More »
