SpicyIP Tidbits: Minister of Health against increasing life of pharmaceutical patents

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The ToI in a news report a few days ago has reported that the Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Union Health Minister, has opposed any move to increase the patent period beyond the current twenty years. The ToI quoted him as saying: “We will in no way support the increasing of patent period of life saving drugs for over 20 years. The Health Minister made this comment in the context of a recent note circulated by the PMO requesting Ministerial views […]

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Section 3(d): A Positive Twist in the Tale?

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Last year, we had blogged on a writ petition filed by Glochem Industries against the grant of a patent to Cadila healthcare pursuant to a pre-grant opposition filed by Glochem. Cadila’s application (now a patent) concerned Crystalline form of Clopidogrel Besylate, which is used to prevent clotting of blood and in treatment of cardiac ailments.   A regular reader of SpicyIP, Sandeep K. Rathod, recently brought to our notice the decision of the Deputy Controller of Patents (Mumbai Office) in a review

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Breaking news: Whistle blower researcher arrested after disclosing problems with voting machines

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Breaking news:  Whistle blower researcher arrested after disclosing problems with voting machines: Amongst others, Wired, NDTV India, The Register UK, and PC World have disclosed that a security researcher, Hari Prasad has been arrested after he refused to provide authorities with the name of a person who supplied him with an electronic voting machine that was used to discover critical vulnerabilities in the e-voting system.   Hari with two other researchers had used the machine to demonstrate how someone could hack voting

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Trademarking Munnabhai

/ By / Trademark

Stranger than fiction this may sound but as Mint here reports, Munnabhai will soon be a trademark! As Rasul Bailay reports in Mint, Vinod Chopra Films Pvt. Ltd, producer of the two Munna Bhai films, has filed applications to “trademark the two names under various product categories—from tobacco, rugs and carpets to automobiles, retailing, leather goods and baby foods.It has also filed trademark applications for firearms, ammunition and explosives, medical instruments, promotional materials, cards, carrybags, furniture, kitchen utensils, clothing, and

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A Beginner’s Guide to Patent Litigation Before Indian Courts and the Indian Patent Office

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As the pharma patents debate stirs up once again, I anticipate that the news media is once again going to be flooded with reports of Big Pharma & OPPI groaning and moaning about the state of patent laws in this country and maybe even an occasional slight against the Indian judiciary for its alleged bias against pharmaceutical patents and foreign multi-national pharmaceutical companies. In my opinion however atleast part of the problem may lie with the faulty strategies, tactics &

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The Prime Minister’s Office enters the ‘Pharma-IPR’ debate

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The Economic Times, the Financial Express and the Business Standard have all carried reports on the fact that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has entered the debate on India’s IPR policy after having a high-powered meeting with the top level management of innovation-led multi-national pharmaceutical companies and lobby groups such as OPPI, Eli Lilly, Novartis, BMS & Pfizer. Apparently the PMO has circulated a note, based on the submissions of OPPI, amongst the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Health &

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An exclusionary definition for the term ‘efficacy’ under section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act

/ By / Patent

An exclusionary definition for the term ‘efficacy’ under section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act:  continuation of “numerical quantifier to section 3(d)” In an earlier post, I had discussed about a numerical quantifier for the term ‘efficacy’ under the Patent Act.  In the post, it was stressed that the current interpretation of the term ‘efficacy’ employed “circular logic” and such logic was flawed.  The logic is circular because the Indian patent office states: “ The efficacy need not be quantified in terms

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Guest Post: Businessworld article on the ‘Charge of the IPR Brigade’

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Mathews George, a final year student at NUJS, who has previously sent in guest posts on a number of issues, has sent us this excellent piece summarizing a well-written Businessworld article on the IPR firms in the country. This is a must read for anybody interested in the Indian IPR scene. The Charge of the IPR Brigade By Mathews George The Businessworld article “The Charge of the IPR Brigade” succinctly traces the trajectory of IP practice in India. It gives

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SpicyIP Tidbits: Prime Minister Gives Green Signal to National Innovation Council

/ By / Innovation

Just after Independence Day, on 16th August 2010, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a green signal for setting up a National Innovation Council to prepare a road map for the ‘Decade of Innovation 2010-2020’. Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda popularly known as telecom czar Sam Pitroda, adviser to the prime minister on public information infrastructure and innovations, will head the National Innovation Council. The Hindu’s report of the same can be read over here. The Council has been given the mandate to

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National Law School of India Review: Call for Papers

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About the Journal:The National Law School of India Review is the bi-annual flagship journal of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. Founded in 1988, the mandate of the Review is to encourage interest in legal writing. No topic of legal significance is beyond the purview for consideration. In the past, contributors to the Review have included justices of the Indian Supreme Court, senior advocates, leading academics and students from India and abroad. The contemporary relevance of publications, depth

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