Readers might recall this post on bootlegs of Indian music concerts. Although I spoke only of audio recordings in the post, there is no ignoring the fact that video bootlegs are gradually getting popular as well. For example, I suspect there might have been several mobile phones being waved in the air in the recent Iron Maiden gigs… The same thing is catching on in Indian classical music (ICM) as well, although not with the same fervour, probably because of …
A group of Indian scientists have published a scathing critique of the laws controlling biodiversity research in the country, saying it is too restrictive. They moot for improved standards as well as room for greater exchange with the international scientific community. TV Padma at SciDev.Net, an excellent resource for discussions on science-related policy developments around the world, reports on an article in the latest edition of Bangalore-based Current Science by a group of scientists. She reports: [The scientists say] India’s …
Biodiversity policy too restrictive, say scientists Read More »
The New York Court of Appeals recently adjudicated on in favour of ITC Ltd relating to foreign trademarks and common law unfair competition claims. Overall, it is reassuring for foreign companies to know that they may be able to protect well-known trademarks in the US, even without registration or actual use there. A brief roundup of the facts: ITC opened two branches of its near legendary Delhi restaurant Bukhara (rated the best in Asia, and among the best in the …
Most of the interesting stories have been blogged about already, leaving little for this edition of Tidbits! Nevertheless, we dug out a few interesting stories that caught the eye recently: 1. Punjab Univ dean proposes new model to share IP Rights here Prof Daljit Singh, Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Panjab University, has proposed a new model for IPR sharing, similar to the strategies being applied for realty development. He drew attention to the real estate development models, where, …
SpicyIP Tidbits: Of real estate, the pharma Nano, & open access Read More »
There was this piece by P B Jayakumar in BS about proposed new licensing norms in the Indian Systems of Medicine industry. I reproduce it in parts below: The Department of Ayush, which regulates the estimated Rs 6,000-crore ayurveda, siddha and unani Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM), has initiated new licensing norms to weed out irrational patent and proprietary (P&P) medicines, which are innovated products not mentioned in classical texts of the ISM.” The department’s move comes close on the …
Govt to weed out "irrational" patent & proprietary traditional drugs Read More »
The Indian legal community has a new player in the online field: an exclusive portal called http://www.legaladda.com, which seems to have gotten the nod from Microsoft. There’s a TOI report on this here, which additionally is an item on Microsoft’s IPR scholarship awardees.Just took a look at the portal itself. It has this to say on the home page by way of introduction: LegalAdda seeks to build a vibrant community of legal professionals in India. The site aims to facilitate …
I came across this interesting piece in IPKat today, relating to IT giant Satyam and a dispute in the Commercial Court for England and Wales [Satyam Computer Services Ltd v Upaid Systems Ltd [2008] EWHC 31 (Comm)]. This is of relevance not only because it involves an Indian IT company, but also because of implications it might have for other companies in the IT-outsourcing sector generally. This was not an outright IP dispute, e.g. on the patentability of the product …
As local news portals trumpet India’s newest homegrown social networking site, http://www.bigadda.com (see here), another Indian company that has achieved near cult status in the global web 2.0 bandwagon faces closure. Scrabulous, a free online gaming site that allows users to play a version of Scrabble, owned by the Kolkata-based Agarwala brothers, reportedly told Fortune that it had received a legal notice from Hasbro (the makers of Scrabble). Hasbro has allegedly sent a cease-and-desist notice for trademark infringement to the …
Seasons’ greetings to all of you! It’s that time of year again. For a small but devoted section of Indian classical music aficionados, this is the time to head to Chennai where the annual ‘music season’ is in full swing. Celebrated during the lunar month known as ‘Margazhi’ in Tamil (mid-December to mid-January), the season has the city reverberating to the drone of the tanpura and the lilt of the mridangam in music concerts organized by the many ‘gana sabhas’, …
You can see them being sold everywhere: in the open-air stalls of Dilli Haat in the capital; in the crowded, winding lanes of Chinatown in Singapore; in the fashionable streets by the Hotel de Ville in Paris… Pashmina shawls, both real and fake, have become a global fashion statement, and can be found draped around every neck this winter. But where exactly do they originate? In a replay of the Super Basmati yarn, troubles between India and Pakistan have been …
