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.

3 Idiots and the Morality of Numbers

/ By / Copyright

The Indian Express carried an editorial of mine summarising the main arguments that I’d advanced earlier in relation to the unfortunate copyright imbroglio between Chetan Bhagat and the makers of “3 Idiots”. Before I reproduce the editorial below, I want to flag up an excellent article by a film maker, Rohit Batra, assessing the similarities and differences between the book (“Five Point Someone”) and the movie (“3 Idiots”). Such an assessment is tremendously valuable in that it is critical to […]

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Job Openings for IP Professionals in Mumbai

/ By / Uncategorized

Two job openings for IP Professionals in Mumbai, as described below. If interested, please write with a copy of your CV to spicyipjob[at]gmail.com (I) POSITION: Senior Manager Legal – IP Enforcement Required Qualification: 5-8 years of IP infringement experience in a reputable law firm and/or multi-national corporation, including substantial work in copyright and/or trademark law Salary: Commensurate with the best in the industry Roles and Responsibilities: i) Involves working closely with outside counsels, law enforcement agencies including customs and police,

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The "3 Idiots" Copyright Controversy: Will All End Well?

/ By / Copyright

Sai Deepak did a wonderful post highlighting a key controversy that recently broke out between the makers of India’s most entertaining, yet thoughtful Bollywood flick of 2009 and the author from whose book the central plot was allegedly lifted; a movie that goes by the name of “3 Idiots”, but does not have the faintest trace of idiocy in either its script or execution. Clearly one of the best movies to have been released this year, it demonstrates yet again

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Off Topic: NUJS Law Review Special Issue on the Naz Foundation Case

/ By / Uncategorized

The NUJS law review has just come out with its special volume dedicated to the landmark Naz Foundation judgment that effectively decriminalised same sex activities in India. Pursuant to its tradition of being an open access journal, all the articles can be accessed freely here. I list out the articles and their authors below: DECRIMINALISATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE CONSTITUIONProfessor Mahendra P. Singh OUT OF THE COLONIAL CLOSET, BUT STILL THINKING ‘INSIDE THE BOX’: REGULATING ‘PERVERSION’ AND THE ROLE OF

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"Abandoning" Legal Fogginess: A Proposal for Patent Clarity

/ By / Uncategorized

Word: aban·don Pronunciation: \ə-ˈban-dən\Function: transitive verbMeaning: to give up with the intent of never again claiming a right or interest in So speaks an entry in the famous Webster’s dictionary. Or for that matter, any other dictionary. Perhaps a genre of books that the Indian Patent Office (IPO) actively shies away from. How else might one explain the fact that patent applications that are passionately prosecuted by keen applicants end up being speciously branded as “abandoned” under the infamous Section

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Bayer’s Nexavar Found Too Expensive in the UK

/ By / Drug Regulation

Even as Bayer has challenged a Delhi High Court decision refusing to import the problematic concept of “patent linkage” to India (hearings at the appellate court have concluded and we now await a decision), Gauri Kamath, a reputed pharma journalist, has a very interesting post on the high price of this important cancer drug. She also reflects on a strangely paradoxical drug pricing issue in her recently unveiled blog that has some of the most interesting articles that I have

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Reviewing the Indian Patent Regime After 5 Years

/ By / Patent

Jyothi Datta of the Hindu Business Line has an interesting write up, documenting reactions after 5 years of the introduction of the pharmaceutical product patent regime in India. She also has a separate write up documenting an interview with the IPO Controller General, PH Kurian where he states some of the latest figures pertaining to patent applications/grants from India. Here is what she writes in the five year review piece: “It was on the eve of January 2005 that an

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Indian Copyright Amendments Procure Cabinet Approval

/ By / Copyright

The government issued a press release announcing that the much awaited and controversial copyright amendment bill has now cleared “cabinet”, a group of senior ministers that represent the highest decision making body of the government. Unfortunately, since the winter session of Parliament is over and done with, the Bill is only likely to be introduced in the budget session of Parliament in February 2010. As many of you may know, the amendment process began around the year 2005 and the

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While India Copies, the Chinese Invent…the Traditional Way

/ By / Innovation, Traditional Knowledge

As we celebrate the efficacy of section 3(d) and our stringent patent opposition mechanism that inter alia, led to the invalidation of a key patent underlying Tamiflu, the Chinese have taken an alternative route, albeit a healthier one. Don’t get me wrong; the term “healthy” does not reflect a comparative value judgment of any sort..it simply highlights the fact that, as with most things allopathic, Tamiflu comes with its fair share of side effects. A report states as below: “Jin

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Publicity Rights: Sourav Ganguly vs Tata Tea

/ By / Privacy

An article deals with celebrity rights in India and states as below: “Taking as an instance the case of Sourav Ganguly v. Tata Tea ltd. wherein Sourav Ganguly who returned form Lords after scoring magnificent centuries found himself extremely disturbed when he realized that Tata Tea Ltd., in which he was employed as a manager, was promoting it’s 1 kilo tea packet by offering the consumers a chance to congratulate Sourav through a postcard which was there inside each packet

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