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.

Calling for Applications: IP Research Associate Position Open at NUJS

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We have a position open for an IP Research Fellow at NUJS. The Research Fellow will work closely with me to further the aims of Indian intellectual property research, education, awareness and scholarship. We have a number of exciting IP events planned for the future, including IP workshops/seminars/moot courts and the Fellow is expected to actively participate in all of these. Apart from this, the Fellow will be involved in cutting edge IP policy work and specific IP projects. The […]

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Breaking News: Ramkumar’s Patent Stayed by the IPAB

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The IPAB handed down a 10-15 page decision recently staying the operation of Ramkumar’s patent covering dual SIM phones. Readers may recall that a similar order had been passed by the IPAB earlier. However, Ramkumar challenged that order before the Madras High Court, claiming that this order had been passed without hearing him. The High Court subsequently vacated the ex parte order and asked that the IPAB hear Ramkumar. Thereupon, the IPAB proceeded to hear Ramkumar and stuck to its

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Mandatory Disclosure, PCT and WIPO Conspiracy Theories

/ By / Biological Diversity

In previous posts, Sumathi touched upon an interesting conspiracy theory that attacks WIPO for alleged sneaky attempts to push through a “global” patent proposal. Some have also expressed the fear that the latest round of amendments to the PCT (Patent Co-operation Treaty) and their consequent incorporation into the PLT (Patent Law Treaty) prevent countries from imposing “mandatory disclosure” norms in their patent regimes. A close reading of the relevant treaties exposes this fear as yet another unfounded one. As many

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Slow Down: You Eat Too Fast

/ By / Innovation, Patent

In an age where “speed” is king, this piece of wisdom strikes a different chord. Apparently, the slower you eat, the better it is for your health. So says, Dr Yash Paul who has applied to patent this idea. More details in the Indian Express news item, portions of which are extracted below. Sadly, this article conflates copyrights and patents. And speaks of an international patent, which, when I checked last, was merely a concept that was being opposed tooth

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Tuesday Titbits: Mashelkar, Correa and "Unnatural" Crimes

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1. The Eco Times published an editorial of mine today on the Mashelkar vs Correa Controversy. I find it incredulous that Prof Correa himself has now trained his guns at Dr Mashelkar with a rather contrived “binary” proposition. My first thought was: Prof Correa, it is but natural for an Indian to think “binary”. After all, Information Technology (IT), which put us on the world economic map for the first time is all about being “binary”! But jokes apart, anyone

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The “Ardhnarishwar” Drug Model: Whither the Interests of Patients?

/ By / Patent

Soon after the Ranbaxy Daichi merger was announced, I had written an op-ed in DNA, commenting on the emergence of a likely “Ardhnarishwar” model in the Indian pharma industry. As a follow up to this story, the Mint carried an edit of mine in today’s paper, as below: (image from here) The End of a Drug Alliance “The Ranbaxy-Daiichi merger in June 2008 heralded the onset of what one might call an “Ardhanarishwar” model in the Indian drug industry, where

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India’s Bayh Dole: A Blind Legal Transplant?

/ By / Patent

The hard hitting editorial from the Mint, that was referred to in an earlier post. For the earlier article in this regard by CH Unnikrishnan, on which this editorial was built, see here. An idea that’s a patent misfit India’s intellectual property rights regime can barely be improved by blindly transplanting a three-decade-old US law. But that’s what the government is trying to do. It’s an old trend. Indian policymaker meets foreign idea; policymaker falls in love with the idea

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The "Spuriousness" of Indian Law: Delinking IP from Drug Regulation

/ By / Drug Regulation, Trademark

The Indian Express published an editorial of mine, where I argue that India needs to urgently amend the definition of “spurious” drugs and delink drug regulation from IP. Saying No to the Wrong Drugs The Drugs and Cosmetics Act (DCA) was recently amended to mandate significantly enhanced penalties for those trafficking in “spurious” drugs. While this attempt to counter the menace of harmful drugs is laudable, the term “spurious” itself is loosely worded and could be interpreted to include even

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SpicyIP Gets New Leader

/ By / Innovation, Trademark

My sincere thanks to all of you who have written such wonderfully supportive messages, upon hearing of my decision to take a small break from SpicyIP. I am now thrilled to announce that after much persuasion, Sumathi Chandrasekharan has agreed to lead the blog in my absence. I’m very positive that this change will be for the better. For one, my style was a little too confrontational and I’ve ruffled a number of proud feathers. Hopefully, under Sumathi’s leadership, SpicyIP

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A Break From SpicyIP

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For reasons, both personal and professional, I’ve decided to take a break from SpicyIP and from mainstream IP for a while. The break is rather indefinite at this stage. But please be assured that SpicyIP itself will continue and our stellar team of bloggers will continue to tickle your IP sensitivities with their thoughts. Also, I will post once in a while on issues that I deeply care about. I want to thank all of you for your continued patronage

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