SpicyIP Tidbit: IP-Watch requires help

As many of our readers may know, IP-Watch is a great source for international IP and IP policy news. They have often served as a terrific resource for us at SpicyIP as well. As they rightly put it, they have “provoked debate, exposed controversies, and helped thousands to access a policy conversation long seen as highly technical and closed.” They usually keep most of their online content free, while ensuring that all of it is free to developing country readers. This morning, they have […]

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An overview of the ‘Health Impact Fund’ model for accessible medicines

A few quick facts before I jump into my post. US, EU and Japan together account for roughly 90% of the revenues received by pharmaceutical firms, and thus by far, are their largest money generators.  Developed countries comprise of 16-20% of the global population Neglected diseases (or Type III diseases) receive about 2-3% of the global pharmaceutical R&D  Even India, the ‘pharmacy of the developing world’, only 10% of R&D funding of the top 12 leading Indian pharma companies focus

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The case of unnecessary confusion and the seemingly innocent Notification!

This post by Sumathi about a seemingly innocent notification expanding the classification of trademarks has attracted a lot of attention on the blog, with practitioners pointing out several operational repercussions that have neither been considered nor addressed. Unanswered QuestionsOne of our esteemed readers, Dr. Sudhir Ravindran (the founding partner of Altacit Global, a Chennai based firm specialising in Intellectual Property Laws) sent us electronic communication with some very valid examples of these unaddressed concerns, which I reproduce for our readers

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Novartis & Bayer appeals to be heard by the Supreme Court in the next 30 days

Over the next 1 month, the Supreme Court of India, is scheduled to hear two key appeals by foreign pharmaceutical companies in regards Indian patent laws. The first is the appeal by Novartis (Appeal No. 20539 – 549 of 2009) against the decision of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, upholding the decision of the patent office to reject the Novartis’s patent application for the beta-crystalline form of imatinib mesylate. NATCO has filed a cross-appeal (Appeal No. 32706 of 2009) in

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Guest Post – Patent Marking: Is Forest Group a Solo or the Start of a Flood?

[Image taken from here] Spicy IP is delighted to bring forth for its readers an incisive and insightful guest post on patent marking from D. Christopher Ohly, a reputed patent litigator and a partner in the leading IP firm, Schiff Hardin, LLP, whose profile can be found here and whose earlier guest posts on behalf of Spicy IP can be seen here and here. In this post, he has covered succinctly the issue of false patent marking, the current U.S.

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Bilski: A Few Thoughts More…

“Bilski Ruling: A Victory on the Path to ending software Patents” reads a short stub on the Bilski decision on the site of Free Software Foundation. As pointed out earlier, the Bilski judgment was expected to deal with patentability of softwares also, but what is surprising is that the word “software” finds mention hardly 2-3 times in the 71-page judgment (twice on internal page 9 and once in footnote 40 on internal page 31). On page 9, Justice Kennedy observes

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International Experts find that ACTA threatens Public Interests

Numerous international experts have found that the pending Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) threatens public interests. A statement has been drafted reflecting the conclusions reached at a meeting of academicians, practitioners and public interest organizations gathered at the the American University Washington College of Law, June 16-18, 2010. The meeting was convened by American University’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property. The statement points out that the terms of the publicly released draft ACTA threatens numerous public interests and is

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INTA: Trademark Issues in Comparative Advertising in India

Date: July 14th 2010 Time: 10:30 am to 2:00 pm Venue: The Maratha, Sun N Sand, 262 Bund Garden Road, Pune 411 001, India. Who should attend: In-house and outside counsel, as well as business professionals who work in the fields of marketing and business development. The programme will provide opportunities to: Receive insights on the do’s and don’ts of comparative advertising. Gain knowledge on the consequences of prohibited comparative advertising. One hour networking session over tea and lunch. Registration

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Bilski: Pandora’s Box or Panacea?- III

In the last post, we dealt with Justice Stevens’ opinion; in this final post on the Bilski decision, we discuss Justice Breyer’s opinion. Justice Breyer’s Opinion Justice Breyer begins his opinion by concurring with Justice Stevens that the Bilski application must be rejected on grounds of claiming a business method since a business method is not a patentable process within the meaning of “process” under Section 101. He then states that the purpose of his opinion is to summarise the

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Bilski: Pandora’s Box or Panacea?- II

In the last post, we had undertaken analysis of Justice Kennedy’s opinion in the Bilski decision. In this post and the next, we discuss Justice Stevens’ and Justice Breyer’s opinions. Justice Stevens’ Opinion Justice Stevens concurs with the conclusion of Justice Kennedy, but differs with the logic applied to reach it. He disagrees with Kennedy .J, in that he is of the view that merely because a series of steps are specific and not abstract, the steps do not constitute

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