SpicyIP Tidbit: Parallel Import clause may be dropped

/ By / Copyright

The Indian Express reports that the controversial amendment to Section 2(m) of the Indian Copyright Act may not be incorporated after all. We have blogged about this issue several times previously here, here and here. The report states that ‘the Union HRD Ministry may drop the clause for now and instead initiate a study on the impact that the amendment can have on the Indian publishing industry‘. Whether this is a product of lobbying on the part of the publishers, […]

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Saregama’s Lack of Standing to Sue

/ By / Copyright

In this post, I will examine the decision in the case of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, upholding a lower court’s ruling that absolved music producer Timbaland and various record labels of illegally sampling a 1967 Bollywood tune for the song, “Put You on the Game”. Facts:In 1967, Shakti (the producer) and Gramophone, Saregama’s predecessor in interest, entered into an agreement regarding the soundtracks in the films produced by Shakti. The agreement was for a period of two years

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Breaking News: Spike in Indian IP Filing Numbers and Revenues

/ By / Patent, Trademark

A very reliable source at the DIPP informs us that 2010-2011 has seen a sharp rise in IP filings (patents, trademarks and designs) at the Indian Patent Office. And importantly, a sharp turn in the fortunes of the IPO, which apparently made Rs 250 crores this year, when compared with Rs 214 crores last year! One hopes that some of this money makes its way into ramping up the IP databases. The comparative numbers are listed below (these are broad

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Judicial determination of a "Well-known" Indian mark- TATA

/ By / Trademark

This post provides a review of a recent judgment of the Delhi (CS(OS) No. 264/2008 and CS(OS) No. 232/2009), Tata Sons Ltd. vs Mr. Md. Jawed & Anr., (judgment available on Indiankanoon here).   Amongst others, the plaintiffs stated that the defendant’s use of the mark (A-One TATA) was inherently deceptive.  The Court after referring to the provisions of the Trademark Act, Article 6bis of the Paris convention, Article 16 of the TRIPS provisions, and judicial recognition given to well known

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Anand Sharma gives a No to Data Exclusivity

/ By / Data Exclusivity

Picture Credit: Kevin Dean from http://www.betaart.com As we’ve highlighted several times on this blog, the pharmaceutical lobby in EU and US have (through their governments) tried to push India into accepting many stronger IP rights, including data exclusivity. As we’ve also highlighted several times, data exclusivity has been consistently been opposed by the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance as well as several NGOs; however we haven’t been as sure as to what position the government was going to take in the EU-India

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The Death of Data Exclusivity?

/ By / Data Exclusivity

After several months of secretive deliberations, intense politicking and protests, sophisticated debates and powerful op-eds, apparent volte faces, subtle media subterfuge and various other things that might have made for a good Bollywood blockbuster, it appears that the Minister of Commerce, Anand Sharma has finally nailed the coffin and buried the data exclusivity (FTA) debate once and for all! During a recent meeting of a Parliamentary Committee dealing with intellectual property, the Minister, who chaired the meeting announced that India

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The role of IP in the Enercon dispute – Lessons for future Joint-Ventures in India

/ By / Uncategorized

While we have been tracking the Enercon patent dispute for a few months now, it should not be forgotten that the main battle between Enercon GmBH and the Mehra Group, is for management control – over Enercon (India) Ltd. (EIL) – the company incorporated for the purpose of executing the joint venture by both the warring parties. A part of the battle is also to seize control of the 16 subsidiaries of EIL and 11 associated companies, all of which

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Analysis of the Google Books Settlement

/ By / Competition Law, Copyright

(Warning: Long post!) I provided a brief overview of the decision in the Google Books Search settlement case, wherein Justice Chin of the United States District Court rejected the proposed settlement entered into between Google, the Authors Guild and the publishing industry. In this post, I will look at the decision in greater detail, and briefly examine Google’s future options. What was the need for a Google Books settlement?Google Books is a service several of us as students, academicians and

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SpicyIP Guest Series: Chris Ohly and Sal Patel on Inequitable Conduct

/ By / Patent

(Images taken from here and here)This time, Spicy IP brings to its readers an incisive post by D. Christopher Ohly and Sailesh K. Patel on the matter of inequitable conduct during the filing and prosecution of a patent application. Chris Ohly, a well reputed and leading patent litigator in the US, and Sailesh Patel, another brilliant patent attorney and partner at Schiff Hardin, LLP., had even before this offered their joint expertise and scholarship to the Spicy IP readers here.(Statutory

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Patent Office Manual finalized and Published

/ By / Uncategorized

Our patent office has finalized and published the Manual of Patent Office Practice and Procedure (MPPP).  The current edition of the manual is a welcome departure from previous editions.  Unlike this edition, previous editions were not accessible section wise.  This time the patent office has made the MPPP available in both HTML and PDF formats.  More time can now be spent on reading the provisions and the patent office comments-rather than waiting for the page to load.  The MPPP can be

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