After Hari Puttar, it’s the turn of another movie to take the movie-IP spotlight. However, this time the movie is based around a patent. “Flash of Genius“, starring Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, Dermot Mulroney and Alan Alda, is the true (and possibly dramatized – I haven’t seen it yet) story about an inventor Robert Kearns, and his battle with the Big 3 of the Auto Industry in America – Ford, Chrysler and GM. The movie opened out earlier this month,…
Supporters of Open Access to knowledge will be happy to note that today, Oct 14th, is the first ever “Open Access Day”. SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), Students for FreeCulture, and the Public Library of Science are the founding partners for this initiative to focus on the international movement that is encouraging the unrestricted sharing of publicly funded research results for the further development and advancement of science and society.The basic principle behind Open Access is the…
Readers may recall several posts that have been put up by SpicyIP relating to the controversy that surrounds the eligibility of Software Patents under the new Draft Patent Manual. One major issue of concern was the lack of public consultation during the formation of this text. In response to this, a National Public Meeting on Software Patents is being organized in Bangalore on 4th October with several prominent speakers being invited. More details below: The National Public Meeting on Software…
The Patent Office has begun the hearing of Pegasys, India’s first product patent under the new Patent Act, which had been granted to Roche India, the Indian branch of the Swiss Hoffman La Roche, and then subsequently received one of India’s first post-grant opposition in March last year. About Pegasys Pegasys, or Pegylated interferon alfa-2a as it is also known as, is a drug which is used to treat Hepatitis C. The prescribed six-month course of treatment used to cost…
A recent post by our friends at IPKAT on games + DRMs (Digital Rights Management) piqued my curiousity and had me heading towards google for more information on the topic (A few months ago, SpicyIP carried a post on DRMs as well). As it turns out, gamers are reacting very strongly against a move by Electronic Arts to incorporate a new DRM copyright protection system in their new game “Spore” which doesn’t allow more than 3 installations of the game….
In a recent dismissal (5th Aug) of an application for Special Leave to Appeal, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the mere filing of an application for registration of a Trade Mark does not constitute cause of action in a suit for passing off. The appeal [K. Narayanan and Anr. v. S Murali, Civil Appeal Nos. 4480-4481 of 2002] was filed against the decision of the High Court of Madras on the 18th of April, 2002. The facts in brief…
Asian-European IP Case Database The Center for Advanced Study & Research on Intellectual Property (CASRIP, University of Washington School of Law) together with the Research Center for the Legal System of Intellectual Property (RCLIP, Waseda University) have developed a database of IP case law which includes a collection of about 2000 summaries and full-text cases from India along as well as from major Asian countries. The database is open to the public at http://www.21coe-win-cls.org/rclip/db/search_form.php The UW CASRIP and Waseda RCLIP…
Readers may recall the various posts that SpicyIP has written on the status of Software Patents in India and abroad. The draft Patent manual, which has created scares of creating a backdoor entry for allowing Software patents is currently undergoing public consultation in the various metros. The Bangalore round of discussions is tentatively scheduled for the 27th of August and civil groups are preparing to protest the ‘sneaking in’ of the clause allowing software patents by means of a candlelight…
Sarai in collaboration with ALF, Bangalore are working on a three-year project focussing on non-traditionally dealt with aspects of piracy such as cultural needs and practices in developing countries and in connection with this, they are looking for researchers. Please check below for further details. We would also like to request you to mention where you’ve found out about the position (i.e., SpicyIP) while contacting the email address given below. Thanks in advance. _________ POSITIONS AVAILABLE The Cultural and Material…
The Indian government seems to have noticed, that barring a few instances of certain MNCs such as Merck launching their products differentially priced, or even counting these differentially priced drugs, health care remains by and large, much beyond the paying capabilities of even the fast growing middle classes. As per current proposals by the ministry, the Indian govt. could become the country’s sole purchaser of patented drugs. If carried out, this would be the first instance where the public as…