In a previous post, Prashant touched upon the brazen way in which the patent manual sought to prejudge the Novartis (Glivec) case. For those of you not familiar with the Novartis patent litigation (given the 100 odd posts that we’ve done so far on this big ticket patent litigation in India, its highly unlikely that our readers may not have come across this till now), here is a brief gist, from a recent paper of ours that was published a…

UNCTAD to support GI for Banarasi Silk

by Mrinalini Kochupillai August 20, 2008

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According to a news report in the Economic Times, “Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UNCTAD personally visited the handlooms at Varanasi earlier known as Banaras, and saw for himself the labour being put in by the artisans in weaving the traditional brocade silk sarees.” Aparantly moved by the artisans’ hard work, he was reported as having said that “We would like to support the effort to have a formal geographical indication, of course, at national level. There would be a…

SpicyIP Jobs: Research Positions in Sarai-ALF project

by Swaraj Paul Barooah August 20, 2008

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Sarai in collaboration with ALF, Bangalore are working on a three-year project focussing on non-traditionally dealt with aspects of piracy such as cultural needs and practices in developing countries and in connection with this, they are looking for researchers. Please check below for further details. We would also like to request you to mention where you’ve found out about the position (i.e., SpicyIP) while contacting the email address given below. Thanks in advance. _________ POSITIONS AVAILABLE The Cultural and Material…

Don’t lose hope Ms. Jishnu – Keep the faith

by Prashant Reddy August 20, 2008

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Today’s Business Standard carried Ms. Latha Jishnu’s weekly column. As always Ms. Jishnu’s article made for some interesting reading. For this week she had written about the anti-IP crusades of Brazil’s Grammy Award winning former cultural minister – Gil. Of course Ms. Jishnu does not descend into the extremities of asking for the dissolution of the copyright regime but instead limits herself to a call for diluting the copyright regime on the lines of Gil’s efforts in Brazil which has…

SpicyIP Events: Conference on Traditional Knowledge in New Delhi.

by Kruttika Vijay August 20, 2008

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The National Institute for Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR) set up under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is organizing the “National Conference on Traditional Knowledge Systems, Intellectual Property Rights and their relevance for Sustainable Development”. The three day conference, from the 24th of November, 2008 and ending on the 26th of November, will be held in the National Agricultural Science Complex in New Delhi. While understanding the dynamism that Traditional Knowledge offers a legal system and…

SpicyIP Tidbit: Chrysler grills Mahindra over front grill design

by Prashant Reddy August 19, 2008

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After their last IP dispute over the ‘Jeep’ trademark, Chrysler and Indian car major Mahindra & Mahindra have moved on to their next IP dispute over the design of Scorpio’s front grill. Chrysler has alleged that the Mahindra & Mahindra has ripped off one of its designs for the front grill. Its not clear as to whether or not Chrysler had actually protected its design under the Indian Designs Act. Regardless Chrysler could still sue for copyright infringement. Media reports…

Substandard manufacturing investigated: Ranbaxy under the microscope

by Kruttika Vijay August 19, 2008

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Indian manufacturer Ranbaxy is in the news yet again. And, in a trend that seems not too surprising, it’s in the news for all the wrong reasons. Currently, Ranbaxy is under contract with the American Government to provide antiretroviral drugs (for HIV/AIDS) at a lower cost. However, these very drugs are now under the microscope, with investigations last month instituted to examine whether the same are substandard, impotent or unstable. ProPublica (an independent, non-profit newsroom that hopes to bring to…

Spicy IP Tidbit: Indian Govt. to take charge of buying patented drugs and devices for the country?

by Swaraj Paul Barooah August 19, 2008

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The Indian government seems to have noticed, that barring a few instances of certain MNCs such as Merck launching their products differentially priced, or even counting these differentially priced drugs, health care remains by and large, much beyond the paying capabilities of even the fast growing middle classes. As per current proposals by the ministry, the Indian govt. could become the country’s sole purchaser of patented drugs. If carried out, this would be the first instance where the public as…

The Draft Manual of the Patent Office and SpicyIP’s recommendations on Section 3(d)

by Prashant Reddy August 19, 2008

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As many of you must already know the Patent Office has been having stakeholders meetings in various cities in regards the Draft Manual released by the Patent Office some months ago. It needs no repeating that the Draft Manual does not have the force of law and is merely indicative of the practices of the Patent Office. The Delhi and Bombay meetings have already been concluded. The patent office discussed the participation in a press release which can be accessed…

SpicyIP Tidbit: Open source licenses are copyright enforceable

by Sumathi Chandrasekharan August 19, 2008

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The terms of an open source license are copyright enforceable, and not merely enforceable under contract law, according to a pioneering decision of a US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) last week. The court essentially held that the provisions of an open source license constitute a form of copyright, and are legally enforceable as such. Read this excellent article in InformationWeek on the case here. Brief facts of the Jacobsen vs Katzer decision (available as a download…

Adyasha Samal { If a song is not appealing, it will naturally fail to capture audience and generate less revenue for the authors. That does not require interference into market forces.... }
Adyasha Samal { Sir, I cannot locate the stay order. Could you please provide a link? }
Nsquarelegal { I would like to request Mr. Kapil Wadhwa & Spicy IP to throw some light on the supporting judgement in respect of Section 2(r)(ii)(c) of the Trade Marks... }
Adyasha Samal { Thanks for bringing this to light. If this requirement has not been fulfilled, then the IPAB has truly been quite lax on the procedural front. This could be... }
Praharsh Gour { Hi Ajay, Thank you for your engaging comment. I have a few points which I would like you to consider:- 1) As I have pointed out, courts are... }

De-Coding Indian Intellectual Property Law

Patent Office Manual: Pre-judging the Novartis-Glivec Case?

UNCTAD to support GI for Banarasi Silk

SpicyIP Jobs: Research Positions in Sarai-ALF project

Don’t lose hope Ms. Jishnu – Keep the faith

SpicyIP Events: Conference on Traditional Knowledge in New Delhi.

SpicyIP Tidbit: Chrysler grills Mahindra over front grill design

Substandard manufacturing investigated: Ranbaxy under the microscope

Spicy IP Tidbit: Indian Govt. to take charge of buying patented drugs and devices for the country?

The Draft Manual of the Patent Office and SpicyIP’s recommendations on Section 3(d)

SpicyIP Tidbit: Open source licenses are copyright enforceable

Patent Drafting Positions

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