Mathews P. George

Mathews is a graduate of National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. His interest in intellectual property was kindled when he bagged the second position in his second year of Law School (in the prestigious Nani Palkhiwala Essay Competition on Intellectual Property). His stint as a student of Prof. Shamnad Basheer further accentuated his interest in intellectual property. Winner of almost a dozen essay competitions in his Law School days, he was involved in various research and policy initiatives relating to intellectual property. Mathews is, currently, based out of Munich, Germany. He had earlier done his LLM in 'IP and Competition Law' from Munich Intellectual Property Law Centre (jointly run by Max Plank Institute for Innovation and Competition, University of Augsburg, Technical University of Munich and George Washington University, Washington).

Trademark

MANJAL REMOVED FROM TRADEMARK REGISTRY – II

by Mathews P. George February 22, 2011

4 Comments

In my earlier post, I had discussed the Order dated 21st January, 2011 which removed “Manjal” from the trade marks registry. “Manjal” is the Malayalam / Tamil translation for turmeric / haldi (in Hindi). The mark was registered by M/s Oriental Extractions Pvt. Ltd (hereinafter Oriental Extractions) in Class – 3 for “ayurvedic bath soap”. The rectification application was filed by Mr. S. Sivasubramanyan, Proprietor of M/s Divine Pharmaceuticals, Kollam before Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks. The Order noted that…

Trademark

‘MANJAL’ REMOVED FROM TRADE MARK REGISTRY

by Mathews P. George February 9, 2011

1 Comment

The mark “Manjal” was removed from the trade marks registry vide Order dated 21st January, 2011. “Manjal” is the Malayalam / Tamil translation for turmeric / haldi (in Hindi). It was registered by M/s Oriental Extractions Pvt. Ltd in Class – 3 for “ayurvedic bath soap”. The instant application for rectification was filed by Mr. S. Sivasubramanyan, Proprietor of M/s Divine Pharmaceuticals, Kollam before Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks. Interestingly, none appeared for the registered proprietor. This Order will have…

Uncategorized

The 1st Annual SLR – Sage Essay Competition

by Mathews P. George February 3, 2011

YET ANOTHER TROUBLE FOR BRITANNIA

by Mathews P. George January 11, 2011

6 Comments

ET and other business dailies including Business Standard reported yet another trouble for Britannia. According to news reports, US based Kraft Foods sued Nusli Wadia-owned Britannia industries for trademark infringement of its popular “Oreo” cookies. For more about Oreo cookies see here. The distinctive face of an Oreo cookie In a suit filed in the Delhi High Court, Kraft claimed that Britannia’s recently-introduced “Treat-O” biscuit is a copy of its cream-filled sandwich cookies. According to Kraft, Britannia copied the specific…

Patent office rejects Abbott’s application on HIV drug

by Mathews P. George January 5, 2011

30 Comments

The Indian Patent office has rejected Abbott’s patent application on its heat-stable version of Lopinavir/Ritonavir drug ( sold under the brand name “Kaletra” ) on grounds including failure to satisfy inventive step. The rejection was in response to pre- grant oppositions filed by I-Mak , Cipla, Okasa Ltd and Matrix Lab Ltd. The decision paves the way for access to life-saving medication for patients across the world, noted Tahir Amin, director of initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK), one…

Event

INTA – Trademark trailblazers – 12th February, 2010

by Mathews P. George December 28, 2010

Guest post – Must law lag behind in innovation? : The need to encourage legal entrepreneurship

by Mathews P. George December 24, 2010

4 Comments

Ramanuj Mukherjee is a fifth year student of NUJS, Kolkata. He is the founder of iPleaders Legal Risk Management Services which works with start-ups. He blogs at A First Taste of Law . Start-ups are ventures that question the existing business wisdom. Most people create start-ups because of two reasons – they are insomniacs, and they can’t find a place or can’t fit into conventional businesses. Also, usually they are short on cash in the beginning at least. The last…

Event

Indian IP Owner’ Convention

by Mathews P. George December 15, 2010

1 Comment

Intellectual Property Owners hold a vital stake in driving innovation and promoting intellectual property in a nation’s Innovation ecosystem. IP Owners of India represent a Global Community. From MNCs to Traditional Artisan, it represents a diverse cross section of the society. Confederation Indian Industry (CII) with the support of Intellectual Property office (IPO) India, has undertaken a flagship initiative to constitute “Indian IP Owners’ Forum” for bringing together all the intellectual property owners of our nation on one platform. In…

Trademark

TRAVEL.INDIATIMES v. INDIATIMESTRAVEL – CLASSIC INSTANCE OF CYBER SQUATTING

by Mathews P. George November 23, 2010

Patenting Lal dant manjan

by Mathews P. George November 4, 2010

3 Comments

The Association of Manufacturers of Ayurvedic Medicines (Amam), which represents 200 companies including Dabur, Himalaya, Hamdard and Baidyanath, has accused the American personal care giant, Colgate, for patenting red dental herbifice or Lal dant manjan, as it is familiar to us. Economic Times reports that the association sought governmental intervention for revoking the US patent and initiating necessary measures wherever Colgate has applied or been granted patent. The issue acquires significance in the light of growing concerns pertaining to biopiracy…

Amit Tailor { If it were some isolated instances, there was definately not a cause of concern. But as the post compiles, these are more than one instces within a short... }
Sandeep { I think it would be worthwhile to see how a very zealous TM campaign is run ... }
Akshat Agrawal { Another extract from an interesting discussion on the post elsewhere (with consent of the discussant): Shreyak Patnaik: The article was very nice! I have personally also have had... }
Akshat { This comment is reproduced from an interesting discussion on this post elsewhere (with the consent of the discussant): Sandhya Surendran: Nicely analysed, Akshat. However, I’d like to perhaps... }
Praharsh Gour { Dear sir, Thank you for sharing the case. This new order does answer the question that though PI is a dominant factor, it's not the only factor that... }