Swaraj Paul Barooah

We’re happy to bring our readers this fascinating post by Balaji Subramanian, a 2nd year student at Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad. He draws a connection between the Open Source movement, and the Soviet military hardware sector! This is his 4th post in the SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series. His previous posts include 2 posts on improving usage of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (here and here), and this post on policy concerns on granting Trademarks to military hardware on classes outside of their…

Patent

Gilead to appeal Sofosbuvir patent rejection

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 16, 2015

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Following on from our post yesterday, where I’d mentioned there were some potential issues with the patent office’s rejection of Gilead’s patent application over Hepatitis C drug, sofosbuvir, it appears Gilead will be appealing the decision due to the patent office’s handling of section 3(d). Also, its worth noting that besides Gilead’s patent application for sofosbuvir rejected, 13th January also saw India become the first Asian country to grant regulatory approval to sofosbuvir. Gilead’s response is as below: “Gregg Alton, executive…

Drug Regulation Patent

Breaking News: Patent Office rejects Gilead’s Hep C drug patent application

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 15, 2015

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On Tuesday, 13th January 2015, the Patent Office rejected Gilead’s attempt to patent Hepatitis C drug, sofosbuvir (brand name: Sovaldi). The application had earlier been opposed through 2 pre-grant oppositions – by generic pharmaceutical company Natco, and as well as by non-profit group I-MAK. While this is certainly good news for the 18 million Hepatitis C patients in India, it does throw up some very interesting questions vis-a-vis the Indian pharmaceutical landscape. I’ll first look at what this means for the price…

Examining the Draft National IP Policy; Stakeholder meetings to be held

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 14, 2015

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On 24th December, 2014, the 6 member IP think tank team, led by Justice Prabha Sridevan, released a 30 page draft National IPR Policy – (draft available here). It’s now announced that the Think Tank will be holding stakeholder meetings on February 5th, 2015, in its office in Delhi. Those interested in meeting the Think Tank can submit their comments on the first draft by January 30th, and email a request for meeting to [email protected] [See Press Relase]. It’s certainly applaudable…

Innovation Others

SpicyIP Tidbit: GNLU-GUJCOST IPR Centre for Excellence Launched

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 13, 2015

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Shreya Dave, a 5th year student at GNLU brings us some exciting IP news from Gujarat, with the announcement of the launch of a Gujarat State Innovation Portal as well as a Centre on IPR. The official press release is expected to come out in the next two days. This post will be updated when it does come out. Please see her update as below: GNLU-GUJCOST IPR Centre for Excellence Launched By Shreya Dave Following the establishment of the Gujarat State Innovation Council…

Guest Post: Online Piracy – The Way Forward?

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 11, 2015

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Kartik Chawla brings us his 3rd entry to our SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series with this post looking into how copyright laws have by and large proven to be ill equipped to deal with issues of digital media content. He goes on to recommend that the law should be made more accommodating to the internet and related consumer behaviour. [Readers interested in finding out more details about our SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series can click here.] Online Piracy – The Way Forward? By: Kartik Chawla One…

Geographical Indication

Guest Post: GI for Yoga? (De)Merits and Consequences

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 11, 2015

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In her first entry for our SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series, Arundathi Venkataraman, a 4th year student at NLU, Jodhpur, brings us this interesting post on whether a Geographical Indication can be granted to Yoga! In case, like me, you’re wondering why this question is arising at all – it’s because the there are several reports that the new “AYUSH” minister supposedly made a proposal to the UN for a GI for yoga! Seems yet another stretch too far, for yoga! As…

Events Sponsored

SpicyIP Event: The Grand Masters 2015 – In-House Counsel Legal Best Practices Summit

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 10, 2015

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We’re happy to announce the The Grand Masters 2015! Please note, it will be held in three different cities on three different dates in February. And please also note while registering – SpicyIP readers are entitled to a 30% discount! Details of the summit are below: Have you been facing challenges as an In-House Counsel? Have you been able to build and lead successfully an In-House Team? Have you been able to strike a balance with the External Counsel? Do you have…

Guest Post: The Fault in our Intermediary Liability Laws

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 7, 2015

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As his second entry to our SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series, Kartik Chawla brings us this post where he looks back at the many website blocking orders that the last year has seen, pointing out the chilling effect that such actions are having. You can view Kartik’s previous post here: “Innovation in the time of SEPs & FRAND licensing“. [Readers interested in finding out more details about our SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series can click here.] The Fault in our Intermediary Liability Laws By:…

Trademark

Guest Post: Military Hardware and Trademarks

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 7, 2015

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After his sharp 2-part post on the TKDL (see here and here), Balaji Subramanian brings us his next entry to our SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series. In this post, he brings up some interesting public policy concerns with the grant of trademarks to military hardware, to classes outside of their core areas of working. Read on for more! [Readers interested in finding out more details about our SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series can click here.] Military Hardware and Trademarks By: Balaji Subramanian Over the last week,…