SpicyIP Tidbit: New Guide on Searching for Medicine Patents

/ By / Patent

Tahir Amin (Co-founder of I-MAK) on behalf of the World Health Organization (South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions) has written a very useful step-by-step guide on searching for patents on medicines. Given that procuring generic medicines is no longer free from IP considerations, this guide could be especially useful in developing countries. The guide is also an attempt at filling the void on material on this subject. The guide, titled “How to Conduct Patent Searches for Medicines” introduces beginners to […]

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Suo moto powers of the IPAB & the ‘Tirupati Laddu’ GI

/ By / Uncategorized

One our regular commentators Mr. Praveen Raj, a trademark/GI activist, had earlier petitioned the Intellectual Property Appellate Board to cancel the Tirupati Laddu GI. The full text of the petition which can be accessed over here, on his blog, lists out the grounds on which the GI may be cancelled. More interestingly Mr. Raj requested the IPAB to invoke its suo-moto powers under Section 27 of the GI Act. The IPAB however replied to Mr. Raj’s petition informing him that

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Spicy IP Tidbit: Health Ministry set to resolve Patent Linkage Question for Drug Marketing Approval Once and for All

/ By / Drug Regulation

For the Indian pharmaceutical industry, it may seem that Christmas has arrived a little bit early this season. The industry has always relied heavily on the marketing of generic drugs since its inception. Its job was not made easier by the governmental requirement for the patent status of a generic drug to be disclosed before it could be granted marketing approval. When an application is made by a medical company to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for such

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Breaking News: Matrix Restrained from Infringing Roche’s Cancer Patent

/ By / Patent

Tarceva, an anti cancer molecule that created patent history in India (for inter-alia ushering in “public interest” into Indian patent jurisprudence) continues to make legal waves. And big ones at that. Over the last few years, this molecule has been the subject of multiple legal proceedings in India, with a full fledged patent infringement trial ongoing between Cipla and Roche before the Delhi high court; a counterclaim against Roche’s patent validity pending with the very same Delhi High Court; a

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No Zandu Balm for Dabangg?

/ By / Uncategorized

For those of you who are planning to catch Salman starrer Dabangg this weekend, here’s a little info to make it spicy. As ToI reports, Zandu Pharmaceuticals, makers of Zandu Balm have served a legal notice on Arbaaz Khan for copyright infringement of the product. Readers will recall that Dabangg features a song called Munni badnam which uses the word zandu balm. The ToI report suggests that Zandu Pharmaceuticals is claiming that it’s the sole copyright holder of “not only

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BPO obtains Patent Protection!

/ By / Patent

In a first of many more to come, 24/7 Customer, a BPO based in Bangalore has secured its first patent from USPTO for its innovative customer contact management system, as Business Standard reports here. This system  enables a customer service center of a company to provide its customers with a choice of different modes for establishing contact with customer service representatives. The different modes of contact are displayed on a single web page. The modes of contact include, but are

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Guest Post: A Defence of Non-Conventional Trademarks

/ By / Trademark

We bring to you an excellent piece covering a portion of trademark law that is not often discussed in India – non-visual trademarks. This post is brought to us by Vatsala Sahay, an enterprising 4th year student of NLSIU. Without further ado: A Defence of Non-Conventional Trademarks Vatsala Sahay Non-conventional trademarks represent an exciting branch of trademark law. While in India, apart from the shape of the Zippo lighter, the Yahoo yodel and the sound mark registered by Allianz Aktiengesellschaft,

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Bollywood Piracy: Fighting Technology with Technology

/ By / Copyright

We are all aware of the rampant piracy affecting Bollywood but the scene of crime seems to have shifted to cyberspace in the recent past. Mybangalore directs us to news of how Bollywood has decided to fight the menace with an innovative, yet dubious strategy, which in a single line can only be described as ‘fighting technology with technology‘. Although the emergence of new technologies facilitating piracy and online distribution methods has been slightly belated in India, it is fast

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Ashoka Seeks Entrepreneurial Leader for Law

/ By / Uncategorized

Ashoka, global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs, seeks an entrepreneurial leader for its Law for All Initiative.About Ashoka Since 1980, Ashoka has pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship, investing in more than 2,500 leading social entrepreneurs – practical visionaries with systems-changing ideas — known as Ashoka Fellows, in over 70 countries. Ashoka Fellows work at the systemic level and Ashoka distills action-principles that cut across the work of these Fellows and creates frameworks for collaborative entrepreneurship to author

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Examiner Drought and Letter to Government

/ By / Uncategorized

Subsequent to my post highlighting the lamentable shortage of examiners at the Indian Patent Office, I wrote the following letter addressed to both Mr PH Kurian, Controller General of Patents and Mr V Bhaskar, Joint Secretary, DIPP (Dept of Industrial Policy and Promotion). Here is the text of the letter for those interested: Dear Sirs: I refer you to a blog post that I wrote pertaining to the dire shortage of examiners at the Indian Patent Office. The post can

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