Call for Papers: NLU Jodhpur’s Journal of Intellectual Property Studies Vol. 6, Issue 1 [Submit by October 1]

by SpicyIP September 13, 2022

We’re pleased to announce that NLU Jodhpur’s Journal of Intellectual Property Studies (JIPS) is inviting original, unpublished manuscripts for publication for its upcoming issue (Volume VI, Issue I). The last date for submissions is October 1, 2022. For further details, please read the journal’s call for papers below: Call for Papers: NLU Jodhpur’s Journal of Intellectual Property Studies [Vol. VI, Issue I] The Board of Editors of the Journal of Intellectual Property Studies [JIPS], published under the aegis of National Law University,…

Patent

mRNA Patent Litigation: The ‘Sport of Kings’

by Aparajita Lath September 5, 2022

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Battle lines are being drawn in the fight over the lucrative mRNA vaccine technology used in certain Covid 19 vaccines. Moderna recently sued Pfizer alleging patent infringement of three out of eight patents that cover its Covid 19 vaccine (Spikevax). Moderna has supplied over 299 million doses of its Covid 19 vaccine to the United States and has, reportedly, lined up supply deals worth USD 35 billion through the end of 2022. Pfizer and BioNTech have supplied over 472 million…

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[Sponsored] LexisNexis Workshop on Biosimilar IP Landscaping & 351(k) Litigation (September 2)

by SpicyIP August 30, 2022

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We’re pleased to inform you that LexisNexis is conducting a workshop on ‘Biosimilar IP Landscaping & 351(k) Litigation’ on 2nd September, 2022. For details, please see their announcement below. Join LexisNexis Live Workshop: Biosimilar IP Landscaping & 351(k) Litigation Friday, September 2, 2022 3:30 PM IST The workshop is aimed at varied aspects and challenges of the biosimilar development process. The main aspects of this event will cover an analysis of the innovator company’s patent portfolio, identifying and advancing the…

Taking IP “Rights” Too Seriously – A Look Through History

by Lokesh Vyas August 28, 2022

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In his independence day speech, the Indian P.M. Modi urged people to focus more on ‘duties’. Earlier, he said that a focus on “rights” has made India weak. Previously, President Droupadi Murmu also spoke of duties and Justice N.V. Ramana highlighted the importance of knowing our constitutional rights and duties. While I may share some sentiments with this ‘right-duty’ talk, such focus on rights-duties language makes me wonder if we are becoming dependent on “Right” in the sense of ‘right-izing’…

Patent

Bye, bye quia timet patent injunctions?

by Aparajita Lath August 25, 2022

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‘Quia timet’? Makes no sense to you? Makes no sense to me either, especially after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Patil Automation v. Rakheja Engineers. The Supreme Court recently held that mediation prior to institution of a suit is mandatory unless the suit contemplates urgent interim relief. If the plaintiff does not follow the mediation process, its plaint can be rejected. This mediation requirement was introduced in 2018 through an amendment to the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. The amendment introduced…

Others Trademark

Trademarks as a Barrier to Free-Speech: An Examination of the MetaBirkins Dispute

by SpicyIP August 23, 2022

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We are pleased to bring our readers a guest post by Abhijay Srekanth and Vivek Basanagoudar on interaction of trademarks with free speech. Abhijay Srekanth is an LLM candidate at the Queen Mary University of London specialising in IP, and a recent graduate of Jindal Global Law School. Vivek Basanagoudar is a fourth year law student at Jindal Global Law School. The views expressed in the piece are personal. Trademarks as a Barrier to Free-Speech: An Examination of the MetaBirkins…

Patent

When can/not a Patent Application be Divided? Part II: Claims & Pluralities

by SpicyIP August 22, 2022

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"Lets eat grandpa" "Lets eat, grandpa". Commas - they save lives

In the first part of a two part guest post series, Amit Tailor reviewed what the Delhi High Court said on the issue of maintainability of divisional applications in Boehringer Ingelheim vs. The Controller. This second part continues where that post left off, and brings us analysis on whether or not, for the purposes of maintaining a divisional application, there must be a plurality of inventions in the claims of the parent application. When can/not a Patent Application be Divided? Part…

Patent

When can/not a Patent Application be Divided? Part I: Boehringer Ingelheim vs. The Controller

by SpicyIP August 22, 2022

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pic of scrabble tiles saying divide and conquer

We’re pleased to bring to you a 2 part guest post by Amit Tailor on the question of when a patent application can be divided, that came up in the recent case of Boehringer Ingelheim vs. The Controller. The first slightly shorter part focuses on reviewing the judgment on this question, while the second slightly longer part carries out an analysis of the same. Amit is a post graduate in Pharmaceutical Sciences from National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER),…

Competition Law Patent

Competition law flexibilities for pharma patents? Vifor v CCI

by Aparajita Lath August 18, 2022

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Story so far: Recently, the Delhi High Court was tasked with examining an interesting competition and IP case. An informant (requesting confidentiality) filed a competition law complaint against Vifor International AG (Vifor) before the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Unfortunately, the facts of the complaint are not clear from the Delhi High Court decision since the complaint was filed seeking confidentiality. Some facts can be gleaned from the arguments of both sides. It appears that Vifor holds patents for…

Others Patent

Fixing Pre grants: Will the EAC suggestion to fix time limit help?

by Praharsh Gour August 9, 2022

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Recently, the Economic Times reported that the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC) suggested two ways to fast track the process of granting patents. First, it suggested hiring more examiners, an issue we have previously raised alarm about here and here. However, it’s the second suggestion, to limit the timeline for filing pre-grant opposition to 6 months, which has been making quite a few rounds in the media (see for instance here and here). These suggestions were apparently…

Sandeep { I think it would be worthwhile to see how a very zealous TM campaign is run ... }
Akshat Agrawal { Another extract from an interesting discussion on the post elsewhere (with consent of the discussant): Shreyak Patnaik: The article was very nice! I have personally also have had... }
Akshat { This comment is reproduced from an interesting discussion on this post elsewhere (with the consent of the discussant): Sandhya Surendran: Nicely analysed, Akshat. However, I’d like to perhaps... }
Praharsh Gour { Dear sir, Thank you for sharing the case. This new order does answer the question that though PI is a dominant factor, it's not the only factor that... }
Sandeep { Praharsh: Do look at another Sun ruling on the same time: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/108341808/ }