Author name: Rahul Bajaj

Rahul Bajaj is a fourth year law student at the University of Nagpur. His interest in intellectual property law began taking a concrete shape when he pursued Professor William Fisher's online course on copyright law in the second year of law school. Since then, Rahul has worked on a diverse array of IP matters during his internships. He is particularly interested in studying the role of intellectual property law in facilitating access to education.

In a Significant Decision, ICSID Rejects Eli Lilly’s Claim that the Utility Standard under Canadian Patent Law has Undergone a Dramatic Shift

/ By / Patent

In a widely reported decision, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes Tribunal (hereinafter “the ICSID”) last week dismissed Eli Lilly’s claims against Canada under the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) founded upon a purported change in the utility standard for establishing patentability under Canadian law. In its 159-page judgment, the Tribunal squarely rejected the company’s claim that Canadian courts radically altered the interpretation of the utility standard claim for patenting between 2002 and 2008 that operated […]

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Delhi High Court Holds Cable Operator Liable for Copyright Infringement; Imposes Punitive Damages Worth 5 Lakh

/ By / Copyright

On this Blog, we have extensively covered the issue of the Delhi High Court’s tendency to award punitive damages without indicating the legal basis for such awards as well as the court’s propensity to grant such damages on the basis of the ipse dixit of the plaintiff without spelling out the methodology employed for arriving at a given figure. More specifically, we have noted how the court adopted a flawed arithmetic for awarding punitive damages in the Sholay case, the

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 5-11)

/ By / Others

The topical highlight of this week is Professor Basheer’s post on the decision of the Oxford University Press and other publishers to withdraw their suit against Delhi University and its photocopier, Rameshwari. Professor Basheer commences his analysis by noting that the verdict brings to an end a legal saga that dragged on for five long years and then shares a highly informative timeline of the case. He then notes how the Delhi High Court’s verdict, while protecting the interests of

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In a Welcome Development, Delhi High Court Refuses to Compel Intermediaries to Screen Content Violative of Intellectual Property Laws on an Ex-ante Basis

/ By / Design

One issue that has received sustained attention on this Blog has been the determination of the width and amplitude of the responsibility of intermediaries for the removal of content that is violative of intellectual property laws. In this respect, we have covered such diverse issues as the implications of the Viacom versus YouTube decision on intermediary liability see [here and here]; the implications of the Shreya Singal judgment [see here]; the need for the extant legal framework to be overhauled

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PTAB Upholds Grant of Patent to Broad Institute over CRISPR Gene-Editing Technique; Holds that it Does not Constitute Interference

/ By / Patent

In a development that is likely to have far-reaching ramifications in the field of gene editing, the US Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) put to rest a thorny controversy surrounding the patenting of the CRISPR Cas-9 method of gene editing last week. The verdict comes in the wake of a hotly contested battle between UC Berkeley and the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard as to who owns the patents over this gene-editing technique. In the paragraphs that will

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Ministry of Finance Reiterates its Decision not to Grant Benefits of Flexible Complementing Scheme to Patent Office Employees

/ By / Patent

Few would disagree with the broad proposition that the success of the patent system is contingent upon a well-functioning patent office, manned by technically competent examiners and controllers. To this end, two issues that have often been at the forefront of most discussions about the strategies that can be adopted to achieve this objective have been the need to recognize the patent office as a scientific and technical organization and, as a logical corollary, to make the modified flexible complementing

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New Lancet Study about Deaths by Litchi Fruit Raises Questions about Misappropriation of Indian Science Research

/ By / Copyright

In a development that raises a number of profound and fundamental questions about the phenomenon of Indian science research being misappropriated without proper attribution, a study recently published in the Lancet has identified the consumption of the litchi fruit as the causative factor responsible for the death of scores of young boys in the Muzaffarpur region of Bihar. Published by India’s National Centre for Disease Control and the India Office of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta,

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (January 29 – February 4)

/ By / Others

Our topical highlight this week is Ritvik’s 2-part analysis of TRAI’s recent tariff order on the rights of broadcasters under the Copyright Act. In the first part, he sets forth the central features of the Order, the principal aim of which is to impose an obligation on broadcasters to provide the MRP of their channels on a-la-carte basis. Thereafter, he explains the key objections that broadcasters have raised as regards the legal tenability of the Order. Relying on a Delhi

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Why Arnab Goswami’s Trademark Application for ‘Republic’ Appears to be on a Secure Legal Footing

/ By / Trademark

As our readers may be aware, Subramanian Swamy recently wrote a letter to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, arguing that Arnab Goswami’s use of the word ‘Republic’ as the title of his new show is proscribed by the Emblems and Names (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act of 1950 (“The Act”). Republic made its social media debut with the launch of a Twitter handle and Facebook page on the 7th of January and is also in the process of

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Shiva Ayyadurai Sues Techdirt for Libel; Claims That Their Comments about Him Were Defamatory

/ By / Copyright, Others

On this Blog, we have previously written about Shiva Ayyadurai’s claim of being the inventor of email and have also noted how Ayyadurai’s story is emblematic of the manner in which our society and legal institutions have a way of systematically erasing into oblivion individuals significantly contributing to human progress only because they lack power or influence. Readers who have been following Ayyadurai’s story closely would be interested in finding out that Ayyadurai has recently sued Techdirt, an online news

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