A post earlier today by Prashant looked at the axing of royalties paid by around 45 seed companies to Bayer (which acquired Monstanto) for its Bt technology, through an order under the Essential Commodities Act. In the post, among other things, he also points out that India’s use of price control under the Essential Commodities Act for medical devices led to the suspension of its GSP trading privileges. We’re very pleased to share a quick follow-up guest post by Prof….

Generic Domain Names as Trademarks: Registrability and Enforcement

by SpicyIP April 1, 2020

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We’re pleased to bring to you an insightful post by Raunaq Kamath on the discrepancy in registration and the subsequent enforcement of generic words as domain names and trademarks. Raunaq is an attorney at Ira Law. Generic Domain Names as Trademarks: Registrability and Enforcement Raunaq Kamath Domain names are a commodity, and a valuable one at that. For instance, cars.com is said to have been valued at a whopping USD 872 million. According to GoDaddy, the 5 most expensive domain…

COVID-19 Trademark

Corona and Trademarks: Opportunistic Marketing or Unhealthy Opportunism?

by SpicyIP April 1, 2020

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We’re pleased to bring to you an interesting and pertinent post by our intern, Bhavik Shukla, analysing the trademark related issues thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bhavik is a 5th year student at NLIU, Bhopal. Corona and Trademarks: Opportunistic Marketing or Unhealthy Opportunism? Bhavik Shukla The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, with countries constantly battling to prevent new infections and cure the existing ones. Even in such economically and socially constipated times, some people try to…

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 23 – 29)

by SpicyIP March 30, 2020

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(This post has been authored by Bhavik Shukla, a 5th year student at NLIU, Bhopal) Topical Highlight Namratha covered the first (reported) coronavirus related IP dispute in India, where Hindustan Unilever (‘HUL’) took Reckitt Benckiser (‘RB’) to the Bombay HC over its allegedly disparaging handwash advertisement. She states that HUL claimed first that RB’s advertisement disparaged its soaps, second that RB had copied its earlier published advertisement, and third that RB was creating a false propaganda that washing hands with…

COVID-19 Patent

COVID-19: Invoking Fundamental Right to Health to Push Govt to Use Patent Law Levers

by SpicyIP March 29, 2020

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We’re pleased to bring to you an incisive guest post by Rahul Bajaj, arguing that it is not only wise for the Government to use the patent law flexibilities to ensure accessibility to medical devices required to combat COVID-19, but also mandated by the fundamental right to health guaranteed under the Constitution of India. It also reflects on the role that the courts can play in this regard. Rahul, a former fellow at SpicyIP, is an MPhil in Law candidate (Rhodes…

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SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 16 – 22)

by SpicyIP March 23, 2020

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(This post has been authored by Bhavik Shukla, a 5th year student at NLIU, Bhopal) Topical Highlight Swaraj covered all the adjournments issued by the various IP offices in India due to the COVID-19 outbreak. First, he notes the adjournment of all in person hearings in various Patent Offices in India till April 15, 2020, the notice for which directs video conferencing in the alternative. [As per a notice issued today, all video conferencing hearings at the Patent Office scheduled…

SpicyIP Fellowship: Directors’ Plight without (Copy)Right – ‘Mr. India’ Trilogy Runs Into Trouble

by SpicyIP March 17, 2020

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We’re pleased to bring to you a post by our Fellowship applicant, Lokesh Vyas, on the rights of film directors (or rather the absence of them) under Indian copyright law. Lokesh is a 4th year student at Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad. This is his first submission for the Fellowship. Directors’ Plight without (Copy)Right: ‘Mr. India’ Trilogy Runs Into Trouble Lokesh Vyas The Copyright Act, 1957 recognizes three stakeholders in a movie namely; producers, authors of underlying works (such…

Royzz & Co. Int’l Student Scholarship for IP LL.M. at University of New Hampshire (UNH) Franklin Pierce School of Law [Apply by April 1]

by SpicyIP March 16, 2020

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As we’d informed our readers last year, the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property at the University of New Hampshire School of Law (UNH) and Royzz & Co. (erstwhile Solomon & Roy) have partnered to offer a scholarship for prospective international LL.M. students specialising in IP Law. The scholarship applications for the upcoming academic year are due by April 1, 2020. For further details, please read the post below where the recipient of the scholarship for the current academic year…

Publication

Call for Papers: NLSIU’s Indian Journal of Law and Technology (IJLT) Vol. 16 [Submit by April 15]

by SpicyIP March 15, 2020

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We are pleased to inform our readers that NLSIU Bangalore’s Indian Journal of Law and Technology (IJLT) is inviting original and unpublished manuscripts for publication in Volume 16. For further details, please see the call for papers below: Call for Papers: NLSIU’s Indian Journal of Law & Technology Vol. 16: Submit by April 15th, 2020 The Indian Journal of Law & Technology (IJLT) is now accepting submissions for Volume 16. Please send in your submissions before April 15, 2020 in…

Event

SpicyIP Events: Workshop on Access to Medicines, TRIPS and Patents in the Developing World [Guwahati, April 20-24]

by SpicyIP March 15, 2020

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We’re pleased to inform you that The Third World Network (TWN), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan are organising a five day workshop on Access to Medicines, TRIPS and Patents in the Developing World from April 20-24, 2020 in Guwahati, Assam. The deadline for applications is March 20, 2020. For further details, please see the announcement below: Workshop on Access to Medicines, TRIPS and Patents in the Developing World Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Third World Network (TWN)…

Adyasha Samal { Thank you for bringing out that point, sir. Indeed, implementing a mandatory registration system would unfairly deprive Indian authors of the rights that foreign authors would continue to... }
Jagdish Sagar { Under Article 5(2) of the Berne Convention, copyright protection in works originating in other member countries of the Berne Union cannot be subject to any formalities. If India... }
Praharsh Gour { Hey Megha, Thank you for your comments and pointers. The scenario suggested by you are exactly the same thing we have raised concern about. Seemingly the whole business... }
Megha Banerjee { The only reason that government (ICMR) does not allow other pvt. Drug manufacturing companies to manufacture may be restrictions on ICMR and other other govt. Agencies to create... }
Akshat Agrawal { Hi Adarsh. Thank you. Continuing the conversation. Okay so I think step 1 is important. Copyright exists- but on what does copyright exist? The court has many times... }

De-Coding Indian Intellectual Property Law

Examining the Suspension of India’s GSP Trading Privileges

Generic Domain Names as Trademarks: Registrability and Enforcement

Corona and Trademarks: Opportunistic Marketing or Unhealthy Opportunism?

SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 23 – 29)

COVID-19: Invoking Fundamental Right to Health to Push Govt to Use Patent Law Levers

SpicyIP Weekly Review (March 16 – 22)

SpicyIP Fellowship: Directors’ Plight without (Copy)Right – ‘Mr. India’ Trilogy Runs Into Trouble

Royzz & Co. Int’l Student Scholarship for IP LL.M. at University of New Hampshire (UNH) Franklin Pierce School of Law [Apply by April 1]

Call for Papers: NLSIU’s Indian Journal of Law and Technology (IJLT) Vol. 16 [Submit by April 15]

SpicyIP Events: Workshop on Access to Medicines, TRIPS and Patents in the Developing World [Guwahati, April 20-24]