Author name: Yashasvini Kumar

Global Warming and IP

/ By / Innovation, Patent

The phrases “global warming” and “climate change” have seized our consciousness and some are applying IP to find a solution. In an encouraging, innovative move Stamford-based Pitney Bowes Inc., IBM, Nokia and Sony Corp. have started the “Eco-Patent Commons,” a website which serves as a forum for the sharing of ecologically sound patents. The patents can be accessed on the Business Council for Sustainable Development Web site which will allow others to modify existing products; as well as put up …

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Grassroot Innovation gets a helping hand

/ By / Innovation

In the attempt to catalogue grassroots innovation the NIF has come across “A television set that can be viewed from all the four sides, a fishingrod that gives off an alarm when a fish bites the bait, a bullock cartwith brakes and a cycle made of wood.” These and other creations are soon going to be launched as commercial products.“NIF, whose main task is to scout for such innovations across ruralIndia and secure intellectual property rights for them, has so …

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NASSCOM recognizes IT innovators

/ By / Uncategorized

8 companies will be felicitated by NASSCOM for their achievements in the Indian IT sector at the NASSCOM 2008 Indian Leadership Forum in Mumbai from 13 – 15th February.NASSCOM aims to reward those companies which have imbued innovation into existing knowledge and have benefited commercially from the same.“The recently released report by NASSCOM and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Innovation Report 2007, benchmarks the Indian innovation ecosystem with leading innovation ecosystems around the world, and outlines recommendations for developing India’s innovation …

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Be a Sport..

/ By / Comparative Advertising, Copyright

Copyright related controversy has dogged the Super Bowl for the last two years as the NFL has tried to strictly enforce a ban on public exhibitions of its games on TV sets or screens larger than 55 inches because smaller sets limit the audience size. However the section of federal copyright law giving the NFL protection over the content of its programming makes an exemption for sports bars. This has created a furor amongst American churches which had created a …

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Rapidshare held responsible for copyright violations in Germany

/ By / Copyright

While the battles in file sharing rage across the world it’s nice to see that in Germany there still seems to be some dichotomy of opinion. RapidShare responsible for copyright violations of users, court says Contributed by Wolfgang Gruener Thursday, January 31, 2008 10:42 . Duesseldorf (Germany) German content licensing authority GEMA says it has achieved and important victory” against RapidShare, which allows users to save and share files. A district ruled in favor of GEMA and confirmed that RapidShare …

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Pirates in troubled waters

/ By / Uncategorized

With this article reported in the Guardian we see the fight against file sharing spreads to more countries. We all watched with growing apprehension for our music collections as Napster, Grokster, Kazaa and Morpheus got shut down in the USA. Australia followed with a 140 page judgement on why Kazaa was better gone and now Sweden has joined the fray.Sweden has charged “Pirate Bay” with being an “accessory” to infringement. The owners of Pirate Bay have sought refuge under the …

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IPR and Traditional Knowledge: Irreconcilable differences?

/ By / Uncategorized

In conjunction with the post that’s just been put up relating to the XLRI and NIF MoU I wanted to add a little note on the extension of the IPR system to traditional knowledge. The advantage of extending the existing IPR system to protect traditional knowledge is that it will generate incentives amongst indigenous peoples to conserve and protect their culture and environment. This assumption is drawn from the experience of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists in Australia …

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From the medicine cabinet

/ By / Uncategorized

The Financial Express brings us another development in the battle between big pharma companies and the generic industry. What really stood out for me was the generic industry’s indignant stand re-affirming their status as the “consumer’s best friend.” In my opinion both the generic industry as well as developing countries need to push much harder for cheaper medicines, A. 31 bis and take advantage of compulsory licensing provisions where available. I always end up looking at these situations from an …

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Moves to protect traditional knowledge

/ By / Uncategorized

In an encouraging move for innovators in the rural areas of North East India XLRI has entered into a MoU with the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) to assess innovations and nominate the same for the national innovation award and granting resources for its protection through IP. This comes on the heels of numerous efforts by Sristi to create a database of innovations on a grass-root level. The move promises to be rewarding for all stakeholders and another step by the …

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