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).

Others

Making of National IPR Policy: DIPP responds to RTIs filed by CIS

by Mathews P. George April 24, 2015

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Centre for Internet and Society filed RTIs with DIPP regarding the “making” of IPR Policy and functioning of the Think Tank. DIPP responded to them. These are available here. RTI requests dealt with a) the process followed by the IPR Think Tank while framing the first draft of the Policy (released in December, 2014); b) details and documents of meeting held to draft the Policy; c) details and documents of all/multiple meetings held to draft the Policy and d) all…

Data Exclusivity Innovation

Policy innovation and improvisation on pharmaceutical drug discovery

by Mathews P. George April 6, 2015

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As I sit down to pen this post, I am well aware of the complex, heavily debated policy dimensions on incentivizing innovations in the pharmaceutical industry. There is no one absolute ‘right’ answer to the various dilemmas posed by this discussion. In fact, there are several answers. Each one is right in its own way. As I see it, the only way out is to ‘try out’ which, of course, entails the ability to ‘embrace’ risks. As Paulo Coelho said,…

SPICY IP TIDBIT: UN Special Rapporteur on impact of intellectual property regimes on the enjoyment of right to science and culture

by Mathews P. George March 12, 2015

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The Special Rapporteur, in her report to the Human Rights Council, focused on the impact of intellectual property regimes on the enjoyment of right to science and culture, as enshrined in article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The report examines copyright from a critical but often neglected perspective of human dimension. [Note that the Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations. It is responsible for the promotion and protection of…

Innovation Others

Is ‘Utility Model’ worth considering?

by Mathews P. George March 5, 2015

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[*Long post] Mr. Zakir Thomas, former Registrar of Copyrights, penned an article in Deccan Herald criticizing ‘Utility Model’ (“UM”) which was, in fact, proposed by the recently released Draft National Intellectual Property Policy. According to him, “the draft policy believes that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has a large number of inventors having potential IP who can benefit only by introduction of a new law on UMs. This claim sounds appealing, but is not supported by any…

Others

‘Jan Aushadhi’ – an umbrella brand for generic medicines

by Mathews P. George February 20, 2015

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Government of India launched ‘Jan Aushadhi’ campaign to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses. [For ToI report, see here.] The Centre will procure medicines in bulk from public as well as private drug manufacturing firms and rebrand them under ‘Jan Aushadhi’. These medicines will be sold in the retail market at a competitive price, allowing consumers to buy cheaper, quality product from the government. The aforesaid ‘Jan Aushadhi’ initiative is similar to the initiative launched by Kerala…

Plant Variety Protection

Delhi HC on Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001

by Mathews P. George January 23, 2015

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[*Long Post] The Delhi HC, in its recent judgment in Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Co and Anr v. Union of India and Anr, interpreted S. 15(3)(a) of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 (“Act”). This fairly well-written, coherent judgment, which was delivered by Justice Vibhu Bakhru, deals with certain interesting dimensions. As we haven’t dealt with many case laws pertaining to the Act especially involving technical aspects, I intend to deal with this judgment at length. My intention…

Trademark

DEERE & CO. & ANR. v. S. HARCHARAN SINGH & ANR

by Mathews P. George January 13, 2015

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I would like to begin this post with a caveat. This post is PRIMARILY meant for non- IP practitioners. This post deals with a settled legal position viz, a trademark encompasses colour scheme / colour combination as well. The intention of this post is to help a non-resourceful, aggrieved person discern the broad strategy in building a prima facie case through a recently decided case law. On quite a few occasions, I have been asked to opine on the aforesaid…

Others Trademark

A note of caution on ‘Make in India’

by Mathews P. George December 28, 2014

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[*Long post] Given the media publicity, most of you must have come across the new flagship program of Narendra Modi Government – the ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ program. The program is designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, protect intellectual property and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure. At the outset, I would like to commend the way in which the program has been put across (or say, marketed) to the rest of the world. As I understand, Indian diplomatic missions were…

A ‘handy’ guide to those who are precluded from commercializing their theses by their Universities

by Mathews P. George December 5, 2014

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Consider this hypothetical fact situation: ‘A’, a student at university ‘X’, submits his thesis to the University. After the completion of the course, ‘A’ publishes his thesis as a book. University ‘X’ alleges copyright violation as the Terms and Conditions (“T&C”) of his admission assigns the copyright over the thesis with the University. T&C allows a student to reproduce the thesis for non-commercial purposes only. What is the legal tenability of this framework? On the face of it, University ‘X’…

Trademark

Bom HC judgment on ‘honest concurrent use’

by Mathews P. George October 11, 2014

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Justice G.S. Patel of Bombay High Court, in his recent judgment in ITM Trust & Ors. V. Educate India Society, examined the ambit of ‘honest concurrent use’ in Trade Marks Act, 1999. Brief Facts The 1st Plaintiff, which is a public charitable and educational trust, controls and manages Institute of Technology & Management. It is the registered owner of word mark “ITM” which falls in various classes. The Plaintiffs claim to be rendering services since 1993. When the Plaintiffs came…

{ Justice Prathiba Singh is a trailblazer. We need more of this. We have some brilliant IP academics in India and students turning towards academia. This is extremely motivating-... }
Akshat { At the prima facie stage, even if the documents are on record- without any cross examination, the veracity of any document cannot be made out. In any case,... }
Bhidu { "At the prima facie stage, where evidence ought not to be produced by parties, the reasoning given by the Single Judge requiring Defendant to show “material” in support... }
Swaraj Paul Barooah { Thanks for your kind words Neha! }
Swaraj Paul Barooah { Thank you for your comment and feedback! The length of the articles is becoming a delicate balance between all that we want to include, and trying to ensure... }