On the occasion of the World IP Day, pleased to bring to you the initial installment of a compilation of all the fair use decisions pronounced by India’s high courts and the Supreme Court under the Copyright Act, 1957 till date. The pdf version can be viewed here and the word version here. The compilation lists all types of use of copyrighted works which the courts have determined to be permissible – or not permissible – under Section 52 of…
Amid the ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases, many states in the country are reported to be facing shortage of Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug patented by Gilead. The drug was approved by India’s drug regulator in June last year for restricted emergency use for treatment of Covid-19 patients and is presently being manufactured and supplied by seven Indian companies under a voluntary license agreement with Gilead. In order to address the shortage, the Government has (among other measures) banned its export…
(This post has been co-authored with SpicyIP Fellows Adyasha Samal, Anupriya Dhonchak and Nikhil Purohit.) Here’s wishing all our readers a very happy, safe and healthy new year! Unfortunately, many traditions worldwide had to be broken the past year, but here at SpicyIP we’re glad to continue our annual tradition of recounting all the significant developments that impacted the Indian IP landscape in 2020. This year, we have divided these developments into four categories: a) Top 10 IP Judgments/Orders (Topicality/Impact) b) Top…
As our readers may recall, in June last year, the Government had published a draft amendment to Form 27 for comments. The amendment exercise was undertaken pursuant to the patent working PIL filed before the Delhi High Court by Prof. Basheer in 2015. The Court had disposed of the PIL in April 2018, directing the Government to complete all steps towards effectuating necessary amendments to optimise the patent working provisions within strict timelines. As per its undertaking, the Government had agreed to…
In an intriguing case last week, the Delhi High Court directed the makers of the film ‘Chhapaak’ to acknowledge the inputs by Aparna Bhat, the lawyer who represented the acid attack survivor whose life the film is based on, in the film’s opening credits. The decision came in an appeal against the interim order granted by the trial court. The Court noted that since the inception of the making of the film, the Defendants represented to the Plaintiff that her…
Here’s wishing all our readers a very happy new year! Or happy ‘now’ year as Prof. Basheer would have said! As always, on this occasion, we look back at the year gone by and take stock of all the significant IP developments that kept the Indian IP landscape action packed throughout the year. We have divided these developments into two categories: a) top 10 judgments/orders, and b) top 10 legislative and policy developments. The developments have been chosen owing to…
It is with immense pleasure and pride that we inform you that our founder, Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer has been identified as one of the 50 Most Influential People in IP 2019 by Managing IP (MIP) for his outstanding contribution to the world of IP. This is the second time he has been included in this annually published list, the first time being in 2015. The list is divided into 5 categories, namely, industry leaders, IP authorities, notable individuals, public…
[This post has been co-authored with Bhavik Shukla, a 5th year student at NLIU, Bhopal] In a very welcome and significant development, on July 11 this year, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court set aside two interim injunction orders granted by a Single Judge against Natco, for having been passed without the Court forming an opinion on the three elements of the well-settled test for interim injunctions i.e. prima facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable harm. The…
[This post has been co-authored with Bhavik Shukla, a 5th year student at National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal.] The Patent Office released a list of newly enrolled/ retained scientific advisors last month. A total of 37 advisors have been included in the list, out of which 22 scientific advisors have been retained from the previous list published in 2010. Section 115 of the Patents Act, 1970 (‘Act’) grants a court (hearing matters under the Act) the power to appoint…
We are saddened beyond words to inform you that our Founder and Chief Mentor, Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer, has passed away in an unfortunate accident. As our readers know, his contribution to legal scholarship, especially intellectual property rights in India, was unparalleled. Beyond that, he established IDIA, which gave wings to the dreams of numerous aspiring law students from marginalized backgrounds to access legal education. His body of work is only matched by his personality – incredibly kind, loving, caring,…