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.

Roche’s Valcyte Patent: Flawed Obviousness Analysis?

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An anonymous commentator wrote in to suggest that the Indian patent office was wrong in its “obviousness” analysis of Roche’s claim covering Valgancyclovir. I had blogged on this case earlier, suggesting that the Indian patent office seems to have endorsed an “obvious to try” test. And that its decision appears to be a sound and logically coherent one (at least on “obviousness”). Our commentator however takes issue with the decision. The commentators’ analysis turns on a critical fact: that a […]

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An Inert Patent?

/ By / Patent

Just came across a patent owned by a certain Pharmatop SCR (Patent Number 238164 granted in Jan 2010 in India) and was struck with how obvious it appears to be: “A method for producing an aqueous solution of an active ingredient of phenolic nature which is paracetamol susceptible to oxidation, while preserving for an extended period characterized in that the solution is deoxygenated by bubbling with at least one inert gas and/or placing the solution under vacuum until the oxygen

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Deferring the Bar Exam and Mulling on Sudeer

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Not exactly IP related: but given that IP lawyers are also (fortunately or unfortunately) part of the bigger fraternity of lawyers, this is something of interest. I reported earlier on the prospect of an Indian bar exam in the aftermath of a Supreme Court direction in Bar Council of India vs Bonnie FOI Law College. Kian Ganz, the dynamic founder of Legally India ran a piece a few hours back on a letter that we sent to Gopal Subramanium (Chairman

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Law and Development Review: India and Brazil Special Issue

/ By / Copyright, Patent

A Special Issue of the Law and Development Review has some interesting pieces on the emerging powers, namely India and Brazil. In particular, there are pieces on Indian intellectual property and WTO law that may be of interest to our readers (marked in bold). And an excellent piece on Indian competition law by Shiju Varghese. The special issue also boasts an introduction from leading scholars, BS Chimni and David Trubek. And has been edited by another academic stalwart, Prof YS

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Breaking News: Roche Loses Valcyte Case

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In a momentous decision likely to impact the course of Indian patent jurisprudence, the Indian patent office held against Roche in a post grant opposition challenging the validity of its patent covering Valcyte (Valgancyclovir Hydrochloride). Specifically, Roche’s patent which covered the “L-Valinate Ester of Gancyclovir” and all acceptable salts, was opposed under section 25 (2) by the following parties: i) Cipla (represented by Majumdar and Company and Ramesh Kumar of RK Legal)ii) Bakul Pharma (represented by Majumdar and Company)iii) Matrix

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US Special 301 Report and a Not So Special Indian Response

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Tis that time of the year again! The US once again revels in its rather arrogant and high handed Special 301 mantle by condemning IP regimes that don’t quite look like their own. Pay homage to this years’ 301 report which reads thus for India: India India will remain on the Priority Watch List in 2010. India continues to make gradual progress on efforts to improve its legislative, administrative, and enforcement infrastructure for IPR. India has made incremental improvements on

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Indian Copyright Amendments: Making Bollywood Fairer?

/ By / Copyright

The copyright amendment bill is certain to prove the most significant IP development for India this year. We are therefore inviting guest posts from those of you who might be interested in blogging of specific aspects of this bill. Please write and let us know if you are interested and we promise to publish those pieces that are conceptually clear, advance logically coherent arguments and read well overall. Apart from the PRS website, Prashant informs me that a current version

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India and TRIPS on World IP Day: A Gripping Rendezvous

/ By / Innovation

SpicyIP wishes all of its readers a wonderful World IP day! May this day and the days that follow unleash your creativity and imagination and spur an inventive zeal in all that you do. To mark this momentous day, the Mint commissioned an editorial on India’s IP journey after 15 years of TRIPS. The piece is as below: India’s Tryst with TRIPS The year 1995 proved a watershed for international intellectual property (IP) issues. It heralded the birth of the

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Copyright Amendment Bill

/ By / Copyright

For those who’ve been hunting for a copy of the Copyright Amendment Bill without much success, PRS has come to your rescue. You may download the bill from its website. At long last, this “secret” bill surfaces. Is there no way we can ensure that bills are made available for public viewing and consumption earlier? Don’t our constitutionally enshrined “democratic” norms mandate the early public availability of bills?

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