An excellent summary of a recent decision dealing with copyrights over film titles from Manisha Singh, Partner at Lex Orbis, one of the prominent IP law firms from India (as extracted from an IBA newsletter). The decision seems a sound one–as I can’t imagine a court protecting a mere new title as a “literary work” or as operating as a trademark (particularly when it is a new film that hasn’t been advertised for long or is not part of a…
If the caption does not a ring a bell it is probably because most popular newspapers have not been covering this matter. There are of course a number of reports on the facts of the case on the internet (See for example, here, here and here) but I haven’t so far come across any analysis of the law relevant to the case. This is probably because the judgment itself is very hard to get a hold of. Thanks to my…
Yet another Basmati bombshell is in the offing! The Basmati –patent saga continues and this one comes from right across the border. Pakistan all set to challenge the Indian patent of the Super Basmati, a fresh round of ‘rice diplomacy’ is expected. The Indian Basmati having passed through a phase of protracted wrangling to wrest the Indian grain from the patent pirates, it is turn the turn of the Super Basmati Rice to be embroiled in a battle to establish…
I’d blogged earlier on India’s contributions to mathematics. As some of us are aware, it wasn’t just in mathematics, but in several other areas of technology that Indian accomplishments are overlooked in standard text books and literature. In fact, in ancient India, scientific breakthroughs range from references to astronomy in the Rig Veda to Shushruta’s trysts with plastic surgery. This note captures Shushruta’s brilliance: “The practice of surgery has been recorded in India around 800 B.C. This need not come…
Emerging Issues IN G.I: Muga [email protected] Assam. Environmental Concerns cloud the Muga Silk Industry of Assam. ‘Round and round the mulberry bush’, sing children in praise of the fine art of silk weaving. If only it were so simple to weave silk by going round the mulberry bush, we would all be clad in the finest of silks fit for the king. And if royalty were to indulge their tastes, it would be nothing less than the Muga Silk of…
Something that we in India already knew about. Naomi Canton from the Hindustan Times writes: “Indians’ contribution to the development of mathematics has largely been swept under the carpet in global history books. But a BBC crew, led by an Oxford professor, was in the country last week to film a documentary revealing Indians created some of the most fundamental mathematical theories. The West has always believed that Sir Isaac Newton, famous for developing the laws of gravity and motion,…
Gizmo Talk: Apple Iphone A treat for all the music buffs and Apple aficionados___ a new blockbuster gizmo to get you in the mood. The new Apple Iphone, ,a music playing and web browsing device that was launched last Friday has created a mass hysteria of sorts. Reuter reports Crowds lined up at some of Apple outlets cheered as their doors opened at 6pm local time while smaller groups waited outside At&Tstores.The Iphone melds a phone , We b browser…
I’d referred to Hal Wegner’s note on chemical obviousness in the last post. For those interested, the Patent Prospector provides an excellent summary of this note and also links to the note. The summary is as below: Hal Wegner has analyzed the current status of case law regarding chemical compound obviousness, and holds that “KSR and Pfizer v. Apotex manifest fundamental misunderstandings of chemical practice case law.” Selective excerpts from the summary of this exceptional research and analysis:The law of…
For those of you interested in spending a good Sunday pondering what the training program of a typical US examiner looks like, here’s a wonderful blog that is interestingly titled “Patently Academic: The Saga of a Patent Examiner in the Patent Training Academy”. For a delicious sampler, see below: “Anyway, back to search strategies. I’m pretty impressed by the wide array of search tools available to examiners now, and somewhat amazed about how difficult things must’ve been even a few…
Whilst most of us await the Madras High Court judgment on the constitutionality of section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act, here’s an update on what’s going on at the IPAB (Intellectual Property Appellate Board), the specialized IP tribunal in India. As mentioned in an earlier post, the Novartis litigation was split up—the patentability issue was referred to the IPAB and the constitutionality issue was to continue with the Chennai High Court. Before the IPAB could even begin to wade…