Contrasting international opinion on file-sharing!

/ By / Copyright

Image from here Big Bully is watching your Government It’s no surprise to anyone that countries with means do what they can do ‘negotiate’ with other countries to have them see their way. While the US places not so subtle pressure on several countries through their annual Special 301 Reports, a recent wikileaks cable between US and Spain has shown that the US may have stepped over  the ‘pressure’ line and moved into the ‘threatening’ zone. Part of the message […]

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CGPDTM announces impressive training syllabus for new patent examiners

/ By / Patent

It appears that 2012 is going to be a good year for Indian IP.  The very first announcement published on the IPO’s website this new year, is an impressive training syllabus for the newly appointed patent examiners. As blogged earlier, the IPO has appointed the first batch of 94 patent examiners last month, followed by another 8 appointments recently. All the newly appointed patent examiners have to undergo a three months residential training program at the National Institute for Intellectual

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India yet to notify a list of ‘International Non-Proprietary Names’

/ By / Trademark

In a reply to a recent RTI application, the Trade Marks Registry has informed us that it is yet to notify a list of ‘International Non-Proprietary Names’ (INNs) under S. 13 of Trade Marks Act, 1999.  (Image from here) Section 13 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 prohibits the registration of names of chemical elements or INNs which have been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) and notified by the Registrar of Trade Marks.  INNs are particularly relevant in

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PPL registers annual revenues of Rs. 229.95 crores for FY 2010-11;

/ By / Copyright

The latest filings of Phonographic Performance Ltd. (PPL) with the Registrar of Companies, has revealed the annual revenues of the copyright society to be at a healthy Rs. 229.95 crores (US $ 45 million) for the financial year 2010-2011. In comparison, the revenues for the previous financial year were at Rs. 203.40 crores.  (Image from here) The break-up of the annual revenues for 2010-11 is as follows: (i) Broadcasting: Rs. 31 crores; (ii) Public Performance: Rs. 31.64 crores; (iii) Mobile

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2011 at the IPO: a summary of controller’s decisions

/ By / Uncategorized

I cannot believe how fast time goes and we are end of yet another year!  For a tribute to the year gone by, we bring for our readers, a summary of the controller’s decision delivered.  So before going further, Happy holidays wish you all a very happy and interesting new year 2012!! Interesting statistics:Number of decisions rendered: 97 including unavailable files.Number of refusals/revocations:  89.5.5 (including one partial rejection, and unavailable files)Number of grants:  7.5 (including one partial allowance). Maximum number of

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Guest Post: State of Tribunals in India

/ By / Uncategorized

We have for our readers a guest post by our regular guest blogger, Mr. Sai Vinod Nayani on the state of tribunals in India. This is a very relevant post keeping in mind the pending PIL against the IPAB.  State of Tribunals in India By Sai Vinod Nayani The 42ndAmendment which inserted Part XIV-A to the Indian Constitution provided nothing more than substituting courts for specialized tribunals in certain matters. The result, tribunals become another wing of the Executive. The

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Music labels across India complain against PPL’s anti-competitive behaviour

/ By / Competition Law, Copyright

From Punjab to Tamil Nadu, music labels are up in arms against the anti-competitive behaviour of the country’s only registered copyright society for ‘sound recordings’ – Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL).  As explained earlier on this blog, PPL is controlled by a coterie of the seven biggest music labels – (i) Virgin-EMI (ii) Universal (iii) Tips (iv) Sony (v) Saregama (vi) Aditya (vii) Venus – all of whose representatives are in control of the Board of Directors of PPL. Any complaint

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Express right refused, Sunday Standard survives

/ By / Trademark

(Warning: Long post) An attempt by the The Indian Express (IE) to stop the use of the words ” New Indian Express” (NIE) by its estranged sibling media group outside five Indian states failed after the Delhi High Court refused to grant IE an injunction. Observing that IE had acquiesced to the use of NIE, and reinforcing that the right to carry on a business includes the right to advertise the business, the court said that no case of passing

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IPO gets 94 new Patents and Designs Examiners

/ By / Trademark

In a long overdue status update, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) yesterday announced appointment and posting orders for 94 successful candidates who have qualified as Patents and Designs Examiners. You can read the notifications here and here. (The Controller General’s public notice is, funnily enough, dated 27 January 2011 – presumably that is a mistake. They’ve been asked to join the Office on or before 23rd January, 2012, when they will be deputed for a three-month residential training programme at

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Bikram Yoga and Copyright: A lot of ‘Hot’ Air?

/ By / Copyright

  Guest Post by Kartik Khanna Kartik Khanna is a fourth year student of NUJS, Kolkata. He wrote for us in the past as well. [See here] Facts   While India has been embroiled in patenting issues concerning yoga positions [here], a different storm is brewing in the United States. Continuing a long running saga, Bikram Choudhary, the founder of Bikram Yoga has filed a copyright infringement suit against Greg Gumucio, who is offering similar services through his brand, ‘Yoga

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