Author name: Swaraj Paul Barooah

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SpicyIP Events: National Public Meeting on Software Patents

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 …

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Pegasys hearing begins.

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 …

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DRMs for Games too

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. …

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Mere filing does not constitute Cause of Action in Passing off

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 …

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Asian-European IP Case Database

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 …

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SpicyIP Event: Protest of software patents by candlelight vigil in Bangalore, Aug 23rd.

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 …

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SpicyIP Jobs: Research Positions in Sarai-ALF project

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 …

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Spicy IP Tidbit: Indian Govt. to take charge of buying patented drugs and devices for the country?

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 …

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NPP may finally come into being.

The long pending National Pharmaceutical Policy, 2006 (NPP) seems like it may finally see the light of day some time in September this year according to Sharad Pawar. Sharad Pawar, the head of the 7 ministers that formed the Group of Ministers (GoM) that was constituted to rethink the policy after it was announced earlier in 2007, announced that it was in its final stages and would be ready within 2-3 months. The NPP was first proposed as far back …

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Spicy IP Tidbit: Hollywood strikes back… the wrong way

After hearing of scores of instances of Hollywood movies / soundtracks being copied in Bollywood, here comes a rare instance of a Hollywood movie lifting a part of it’s soundtrack from Bollywood. A Hollywood Sci-Fi Cloverfield has used Pankhida Oh Pankhida, a Gujarati garba originally penned by Vijaya Herma about 25 years ago, as part of its soundtrack. For the purposes of the film, Lekha Ratnakumar had created his own version of the song and was credited with it in …

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