Author name: Shamnad Basheer

Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer founded SpicyIP in 2005. He's also the Founder of IDIA, a project to train underprivileged students for admissions to the leading law schools. He served for two years as an expert on the IP global advisory council (GAC) of the World Economic Forum (WEF). In 2015, he received the Infosys Prize in Humanities in 2015 for his work on legal education and on democratising the discourse around intellectual property law and policy. The jury was headed by Nobel laureate, Prof. Amartya Sen. Professional History: After graduating from the NLS, Bangalore Prof. Basheer joined Anand and Anand, one of India’s leading IP firms. He went on to head their telecommunication and technology practice and was rated by the IFLR as a leading technology lawyer. He left for the University of Oxford to pursue post-graduate studies, completing the BCL, MPhil and DPhil as a Wellcome Trust scholar. His first academic appointment was at the George Washington University Law School, where he served as the Frank H Marks Visiting Associate Professor of IP Law. He then relocated to India in 2008 to take up the MHRD Chaired Professorship in IP Law at WB NUJS, a leading Indian law school. Later, he was the Honorary Research Chair of IP Law at Nirma University and also a visiting professor of law at the National Law School (NLS), Bangalore. Prof. Basheer has published widely and his articles have won awards, including those instituted by ATRIP, the Stanford Technology Law Review and CREATe. He was consulted widely by the government, industry, international organisations and civil society on a variety of IP issues. He also served on several government committees.

India’s First Compulsory Licence: Open Ended?

/ By / Patent

While dismissing the SLP (special leave petition) of Bayer, the Supreme Court noted that: “In the facts of the present case, we are not inclined to interfere. The Special Leave Petition is dismissed, keeping all questions of law open.” What exactly does this mean? Honestly, it left me a bit puzzled. Wasn’t it the job of the highest court of the land to apply its mind to questions of law? If so, why did it leave it “open”? And if issues […]

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FRAND-ly Injunctions from India: Has Ex Parte Become the “Standard”?

/ By / Patent

It would appear so! As readers may recollect, we’ve often railed against the promiscuity of ex-parte injunctions in patent cases. Noting that, contrary to popular perception, India is actually guilty of overprotecting IP on this count.  Sadly, our courts continue to dish out these problematic injunctions, with alarming alacrity. Just yesterday, a single judge of the Delhi High Court granted an ex parte in junction in a case involving a telecommunication “standard” that was allegedly meant to be licensed under

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IP Overlaps: Did The Court Get it Wrong in Micolube?

/ By / Copyright, Design, Overlaps in IP

I would argue yes! Well, at least on one count. Otherwise, it’s a very fine decision with well-articulated and sound legal propositions. But first a bit of background, drawn unabashedly from my chapter in “Overlapping IP rights”, a book jointly edited with Neil Wilkof. Background to Micolube Dispute “In M/S Micolube India Limited v Rakesh Kumar Trading As Saurabh, the plaintiffs, engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling petroleum products, sought an interim injunction against the defendants who sold

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The Dasatinib Dance Continues: Compulsorily Licensing and Public Non Commercial Use

/ By / Patent

The Dasatinib CL controversy continues to rage, with two government agencies locked in a clear tussle. While the Health Ministry is keen on activating the section 92 compulsory licensing (CL) route, the DIPP appears more cautious on this count. In the meantime, the Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment (UACT) petitioned the USTR head, Michael Froman citing concerns that the US pressure on India and the announcement of an out-of-cycle review of India’s status has resulted in the Indian Government shelving

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The Day the Music Died: In the “Company” of Collusive Collecting Societies

/ By / Copyright

Much like the Diwali crackers bursting all around us, this IP news comes with a bang! In a momentous development for copyright law in India, IPRS and PPL have declared that they are no longer “collecting societies” under the copyright act, but merely a “company”. As such, they claim that they cannot be regulated under the terms of the copyright act, but answer only to the terms of the Companies Act. SpicyIP managed to scoop a letter from IPRS to

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The Taming of the Tribunal

/ By / Others, Patent, Trademark

In a recent op-ed in the Financial Express, I reflect on the recent Supreme Court invalidation of the National Tax Tribunal (NTT). While some see this as payback by the judiciary against the government for unleashing the JAC bills on them, I argue that its a well reasoned decision and could not have gone any other way. I also posit that under the logic of this Supreme Court decision, a number of other tribunals will be axed as well, such as the IPAB, Green tribunal,  etc.

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Skinning Bad Pharma Patents: UK Shows the Way

/ By / Patent

In a very well reasoned decision, a UK court invalidated a pharmaceutical patent that merely combined two existing medicinal substances (along with a third solvent). Given that Indian patent law tracks UK case law quite closely (perhaps even more so than it does US law), this decision from Justice Birss will be of great interest to our readers. The main patent in issue claimed a “Non-aqueous pharmaceutical composition for dermal use to treat psoriasis comprising a vitamin, a corticosteroid and a

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The Gilead Licenses and a New Drug Era?

/ By / Patent

In a piece in the Indian Express a couple of days ago, I expressed some apprehension about the latest round of licensing agreements signed between Gilead and seven Indian generic companies. And argued that since many of our generic majors are now partnering with western multinationals and foregoing the option to challenge their patents, the government must play a stronger role in public health and access. It cannot simply continuing relying on these generic majors and the competition that they

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Opening up Indian Law Making?

/ By / Others, Patent

In a recent op-ed in the Mint, I lament the lack of public consultation in Indian law and policy making. I argue that its high time we moved from representative to deliberative democracy. I note the existence of a cabinet resolution calling for public consultation but note that it is weakly worded and that we need a stronger legal entitlement to the same. I extract some portions below. And welcome thoughts and suggestions. You can access the full piece here. Judging a

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Loss of an IP Luminary: Chris Ohly

/ By / Others

Some of you may have heard that Chris Ohly, one of the finest lawyers in the IP firmament, passed away. Those that knew him will lament the huge void that he leaves behind. For Chris was an exceptional IP attorney and an even more exceptional human being. I met him during my teaching stint at the George Washington Law School in Washington DC in early 2007 and we bonded almost immediately, chatting about our love for IP and life in general.

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