Author name: Shouvik Kumar Guha

Shouvik is at present employed as a Research Associate and a Teaching Assistant at The W.B. National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. He has obtained his B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) degree from NUJS itself and is also currently pursuing his LL.M. degree from the same university. From his very year at law school, he had been attracted towards the discipline of Intellectual Property and that interest has been kindled further in course of time. The interface between IP and other disciplines such as Economics, Anti-trust Law, Human Rights, World Trade Law and the technological developments relating thereto, has especially caught his attention since then. He’s authored several papers on issues relating to IP and other legal disciplines for journals, books, magazines and conferences in national as well as international levels. He is also currently co-heading an organization called Lexbiosis, which is an endeavor meant to facilitate the collaboration between the legal industry and academia.

Spicy IP Tid-bit: Ministry of Commerce & Industry invites suggestions on Draft IPAB Rules

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The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has some time back come up with a new notification regarding having completed a preliminary draft of the Patents (Appeals and Applications to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board) Rules, 2010. The notification (DIPP Notification No. GSR690(E), dated August 18, 2010) is aimed to inform all the stakeholders involved and all members of the public that the said draft shall be considered after 45 days have elapsed since the date of Gazette notification. In course […]

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Spicy IP Tidbit: Health Ministry set to resolve Patent Linkage Question for Drug Marketing Approval Once and for All

/ By / Drug Regulation

For the Indian pharmaceutical industry, it may seem that Christmas has arrived a little bit early this season. The industry has always relied heavily on the marketing of generic drugs since its inception. Its job was not made easier by the governmental requirement for the patent status of a generic drug to be disclosed before it could be granted marketing approval. When an application is made by a medical company to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for such

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Guest Post: Trademark Tangles – Mera Wala Manjal

/ By / Trademark

Suchita Saigal, a name familiar to the Spicy IP readers, brings yet another piece of her refreshing and analytical reasoning to the fore for us, that has been presented as follows: Ø Case history: This post considers a case brought to our notice by Mr. Praveen Raj. The case, currently being heard before the Delhi High Court, deals with the evergreen topic of distinctiveness of a trademark. The question is whether the trademark ‘Manjal’ is descriptive in nature and therefore

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Eve-Teasers Knocked Out, Beer-bellied or Otherwise! Trademark Battle between Skol Breweries and Unisafe Technologies

/ By / Trademark

(Image taken from here)A recent trademark judgment pronounced by the Delhi High Court has come to the attention of the Spicy IP team, which has referred to several key precedents and factors involved in the matter of trademark dilution (and a conclusion pondering possible linkage between beer drinking and eve-teasing!!!). It goes by the name of Skol Breweries v. Unisafe Technologies [Dated August 25, 2010; CS(OS) 472/2006, I.A. No. 3194/2006]. In this case, the plaintiff (Skol) proprietor of the beer

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DIPP Discussion Paper on Compulsory Licensing in the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector: An ‘Acquired’ Afterthought?

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The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has recently sought to address concerns regarding market-availability of low-price life saving drugs, by way of reviewing the provisions relating to compulsory licensing enshrined in the Indian IP regime. With multinational pharmaceutical giants having acquired as many as 6 Indian drug manufacturing companies 2006 onwards, the domestic market for drugs (particularly medicines for battling HIV, some types of cancer and Hepatitis C) has exhibited a steep inflationary rise in the pricing curve.

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‘The Complete Man’ just got split in Two! Raymonds Ltd. loses Trademark Battle

/ By / Trademark

(Image taken from here)A recent decision of the Bombay High Court appears to have highlighted the intricacies of Section 29 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 to a considerable extent. In the case of Raymond Limited v. Raymond Pharmaceuticals (Suit No. 437 of 2006), a division bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justices DK Deshmukh and RP Sondurbaldota, had ordered on July 13, 2010, the appellant Raymond Limited (RL), a Mumbai-based textile company of the Singhania Group, to share

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IP Job Opportunity in Mumbai

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A job opening for IP Professionals in Mumbai, as described below. If interested, please write with a copy of your CV to spicyipjob[at]gmail.com. Position: Head Legal – IP Affairs. Reports to the Global General Counsel/Deputy General Counsel. Responsible for providing legal support for Chief Technology Officer, R&D and Global IPR Management System. This is a specialized position requiring extensive knowledge and experience in domestic and international laws relating to Intellectual Property Rights, including Patents and Industrial Designs, Trademark and Service

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Battling Malaria with Open-Source Weapons? Glaxo tries a ‘Linux’

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(Image taken from here)The manner in which the software industry was revolutionized about a decade ago by the advent of the Linux operating system and the open-source software development movement is sought to be emulated by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC in the field of coming up with new drugs and medicinal processes. In the month of May, 2010, Glaxo revealed to the public the designs behind 13,500 chemical compounds, which according to them, have the potential ability to successfully hamstring

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Guest Post – Patent Marking: Is Forest Group a Solo or the Start of a Flood?

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[Image taken from here] Spicy IP is delighted to bring forth for its readers an incisive and insightful guest post on patent marking from D. Christopher Ohly, a reputed patent litigator and a partner in the leading IP firm, Schiff Hardin, LLP, whose profile can be found here and whose earlier guest posts on behalf of Spicy IP can be seen here and here. In this post, he has covered succinctly the issue of false patent marking, the current U.S.

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Hindustan Times & Mint bring forth ‘Innovative India’

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A large section of the populace may be unaware of the degree to which India and Indians have contributed towards shaping the skyline of the innovation scenario. Ranging from the touch-screen of an IPod that is a must-have for majority of the global populace to the humming engines that drive a jetliner speeding across the sky, India has done its share of filling the technology-basket through different ways of conceptualising, designing, modifying or stress-testing such technologies in one or another

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