Author name: Sumathi Chandrasekharan

WIPO copyright treaty for blind kept on hold

/ By / Copyright

There were a few anxious faces in WIPO, Geneva (and elsewhere) yesterday, as a US-Canada-EU lobby tried to block a copyright treaty proposal protecting the rights of people with disabilities to access digital material. Discussions were left hanging, though, and will continue in the next edition of the Standing Commitee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), tentatively scheduled for Nov 30-Dec 4 2009. The Treaty, which can be accessed here, was introducted by the World Blind Union, and tabled by […]

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IP management in Indian agricultural research

/ By / Uncategorized

The public-funded agricultural research system in India is gradually trying to supplement its “soft” defence against misuse of IP (e.g., through placing assets in the public domain through disclosure) with more aggressive IP protection strategy, in keeping with evolving national and international policy. But IP management in agricultural research in the country continues to be challenged by constraints of scale, human resource, and awareness, among other things. This directly impacts the system’s ability to strategically leverage its traditional advantage of

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Toshiba sues Moser Baer over DVD-R

/ By / Patent

Moser Baer, India’s leading and the world’s second-largest manufacturer of Optical Storage Media, finds itself at the receiving end of a lawsuit filed by Japan’s Toshiba Corp. relating to alleged patent infringement of recordable DVDs. Reuters reports here that the lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin against Moser Baer and seven other recordable DVD manufacturers and distributors across the world (Imation and RITEK are among others) that do not have licensing agreements

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SpicyIP Tidbits: GIs from the deserts and the hills

/ By / Uncategorized

There are two updates on the GI front from very different parts of the country – the desert sands of Kutch and the languorous hills of the Nilgiris. In an article replete with (standard) misreporting, the Indian Express informs us that Kutchi weavers, bandhini artists from Jamnagar and Ajrak printing craftsmen have applied for GIs, and expect to be granted their respective tags soon. There is a slight possibility (and this is entirely my own speculation) that issues may arise,

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SpicyIP Tidbits: GI update

/ By / Uncategorized

It’s been a while since we’ve updated you on GI-related activities, and there have been several developments over the past few weeks, which I have tried to put together in a enhanced-tidbit-type post. Future GI updates will hopefully be less lengthy, and more timely! 1. GI for Banarasi sarees Last year, there were reports that UNCTAD intended to support a GI application process for traditional Banarasi silk sarees, which SpicyIP had picked up here. Latest news here and here suggest

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Religion and IP: The tales of Tirupati, Attukal and Osho

/ By / Trademark

This blog has been the forum for considerable debate surrounding the protection of religious and spiritual symbols, including those related to Yoga, and the Tirupati laddu GI. The latter, for instance, most recently re-appeared on the scene with the Hindu reporting that “The Tirupati laddu … may soon get intellectual property rights (IPR) as the managing trust of the temple is seeking geographical exclusivity for the delicacy. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), a trust which manages the world’s richest temple

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New PG Dip Course in IP and Technology Management in Agriculture, NAARM

/ By / Uncategorized

There is a brand new specialised course in IP in India for graduate students of Agriculture, offering an in-depth understanding of Intellectual Property and Technology Management in Agriculture, and a cross-disciplinary study of agri-business, R&D, industry and law. The National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) has begun a one-year Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property and Technology Management in Agriculture (IPTMA) , with a comprehensive curriculum designed in collaboration with leading experts from across the disciplinary spectrum – agri-business,

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SpicyIP Tidbit: GSK floats patent pool for neglected diseases

/ By / Patent

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has offered to contribute to a voluntary patent pool to develop treatments for neglected diseases, among a set of claims that will have set the industry abuzz in strategising future business moves. In this Guardian interview and this Reuters report, Andrew Witty, GSK’s CEO, re-envisions the social contract that pharma industry has with society at large, and offers a slew of suggestions that makes me wonder if the company’s CSR department is working overtime. The big news, of

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SpicyIP Tidbit: New pricing rules for imported drugs

/ By / Drug Regulation

The government of India is expected to soon issue rules for monitoring prices of imported drugs for diseases like diabetes, arthritis, obesity, cancer and heart diseases. According to this report from Economic Times, “the government will negotiate prices for imported medicines for identified diseases based on prices of the same medicine in other markets and the cost of production estimated by it, an official said. For other imported patented drugs, the companies would be expected to voluntarily keep prices lower

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Upaid-Satyam: Racketeering charges in amended complaint

/ By / Patent

Interesting updates for those tracking the Upaid chapters in the Satyam story: Update One: Upaid was granted leave by the Texas Federal Court to file its third amended complaint in the case. The amended complaint remains under seal, but the order clearly makes reference to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (the RICO Act), suggesting that the amended complaint contains fresh charges under this law against Satyam. Slightly unrelated to the blog, but of general interest: RICO allows criminal

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