No change, no gain: Reflecting on post-grant opposition timelines

Last week we blogged about two post-grant oppositions against Novo Nordisk’s patent that have been pending for eight years. While the Delhi High Court (single judge) directed the Controller to finally hear and decide the matter by September 30, 2022, Sandeep Rathod in his comment here, pointed out that the patentee appealed the Single Judge decision before a Division Bench. It appears that this appeal was then withdrawn by the patentee midway while arguing! Sandeep has also written about post-grant …

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Questionable practices leading to delays in post-grant oppositions: Novo Nordisk v UOI

A recent decision of the Delhi High Court, in Novo Nordisk AS v. Union of India (July 5, 2022), brings back to light the problem of delays in post-grant oppositions in India. Prashant’s post here, discusses broader policy problems with respect to delayed oppositions. As noted, a very small per centage of patents are actually commercialised and  an opposition usually signifies that the patent at issue has underlying economic value (compared to uncontested applications). So keeping an opposition pending for …

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Kerala HC directs DPIIT to consider representation for issue of Compulsory License for Breast Cancer Drug

The Kerala High Court vide Order dated 14 June 2022 directed the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to consider the representation for issue of compulsory license for the drug Ribociclib. Background The writ petitioner is a breast cancer patient. She filed a writ petition in the High Court of Kerala arguing that the treatment costs Rs. 63,480/- per month out of which Ribociclib alone costs Rs. 58,140/- per month. According to the petitioner, Ribociclib is not …

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Extension of the Deadline for the 3rd Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition

With several requests for extensions coming in, we’ve decided to extend the deadline for the 3rd Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition (2022). The new deadline is 24th July, 2022 (11:59pm IST). As a reminder, this year’s edition is open to recent graduates as well as current law students. And thanks to an anonymous donor, the prize money has been increased as well. As always, the topic is open to anything within the larger IPR sphere – the more creative, the better. …

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Sale of existing stock in trademark disputes: Interim confusion?

In a recent pharma trademark infringement and passing off dispute, the Delhi High Court permitted the defendant to sell its existing stock (pending further orders) without vacating the interim injunction against the defendant. The Delhi High Court characterised this arrangement as an ‘interim arrangement’ required to serve public interest. Facts Respondent / plaintiff (M/S Laborate Pharma) had filed a suit against the appellant / defendant (Alkem Labs) alleging trademark and copyright infringement and passing off with respect to its registered …

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A meme about UNO where in one picture the card says "Come up with a robust and prompt solution to the IP challenges during the Pandemic or draw 25" and in next picture the player is holding 25 cards.

WTO Decides on the Access to COVID-19 Vaccines: Is Late as Good as Never? 

[This post has been co-authored by Rahul Bajaj and Praharsh Gour. Rahul is an attorney at IRA Law and a former Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi. Rahul is a Rhodes Scholar (2018) and has worked as a law clerk for Justice D. Y Chandrachud (2020-21). He has also blogged for us in the past and was the SpicyIP Fellow for 2016. Readers can access posts by Rahul here. Views expressed in the post are personal] Since the TRIPS waiver was …

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Old Is No Longer Gold: Do Copyright in Films/Songs Expire with the 60 Year Limit?

We are pleased to present this piece by Mr. Rajesh Kumar and Ms. Akanksha Badika on the unresolved issues surrounding the term of the copyright in sound recording/cinematograph film and underlying work(s) under the Copyright Act, 1956. Rajesh Kumar works as the Head of Legal and Akanksha Badika works as the Legal Executive at Bhansali Productions, Mumbai (a film production house). Their practice predominantly revolves around copyright law, litigation and advising on all matters related to films that are emanating …

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IP Reveries: Class 4.2 Ruminating on the “R – Rights” of IPR!

  The IP Reveries series is an experimental ‘fun’ series set in an imaginary classroom where we are using a dialogue format to raise questions and discussions around IP that traditionally don’t find a place to get voiced either due to long standing assumptions, or due to being seen as ‘too trivial’ to discuss in more formal settings. The series is authored by Lokesh Vyas and myself in equal measure. For a general introduction to this IP Reveries series, please check …

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Reminder: Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition Deadline Coming up, Prize Money Doubled

As a reminder to our readers, the deadline for submissions to the 3rd Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on Intellectual Property Law is just a couple of weeks away – July 14th, 2022 (23:59 IST). Edit: now extended to July 24th, 2022 (23:59 IST) We’re also very happy to announce that an anonymous supporter has generously agreed to double the prize money for the winners! The first, second and third prize winners will now be getting INR. 30,000, INR 20,000 and …

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The Amendment to the IT Rules, 2021: Part 2 – Locked, Loaded, and Aimed at the Intermediaries

We’re pleased to bring our readers Part 2 of the series by Surabhi Pande and Devvrat Joshi looking at the proposed draft amendments to the IT Rules, 2021. The first part looked at two specific proposed provisions and argued that they would impact the ability of intermediaries to avail safe harbour provisions. This second part continues the analysis of the draft amendments, looking at some of the remaining provisions and takes issue with the lack of clarity. Readers may be …

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