Fair Dealings by Television Networks: SCIL v. Hamar Television

/ By / Copyright

With all the hoopla surrounding the Copyright Act amendments, a recent decision of the Delhi High Court (Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. v. Hamar Television Network Pvt. Ltd) which throws some light on the extent of the fair dealing provisions that are statutorily provided under the Indian Copyright Act as of today, provides a good basis to anchor one’s arguments in support of or against the expansion of fair dealing provisions under the Act. I have attempted a brief examination of […]

Fair Dealings by Television Networks: SCIL v. Hamar Television Read More »

Revisiting the Constitutionality of the Copyright Board in light of the SC judgement in the NCLT case

/ By / Copyright

Some months ago Shamnad had a run a post on the legality of the appointment of Dr. Raghbir Singh as the Chairperson of the Copyright Board and also the constitutionality of the Copyright Board as provided for under the Copyright Act, 1957. In regards Dr. Raghbir Singh’s appointment, as the Chairperson of the Copyright Board, Shamnad had pointed out how it was highly unlikely that Dr. Singh actually fulfilled the eligibility criteria laid down in the Copyright Act. Section 11(3)

Revisiting the Constitutionality of the Copyright Board in light of the SC judgement in the NCLT case Read More »

No entry for Hilton Hotels rules Rajasthan Court

/ By / Uncategorized

Believe it or not, but the international hospitality group Hilton International Corporation of the Hilton Hotels fame cannot carry on business in India (Conrad Hilton has a joint venture with DLF),owing to the outcome of a pending trademark suit in Sirohi District Court in Rajasthan,as the Hindustan Times reports. The facts of this ‘spicy’ suit relate to the petitioners claiming that Hilltone Hotels, situated in Mount Abu is registered under the Companies Act,1956 and therefore Hilton International should be restrained from carrying out business in

No entry for Hilton Hotels rules Rajasthan Court Read More »

Sir Robin Jacob – Sir Hugh Laddie Chair in Intellectual Property Law ,University College London

/ By / Uncategorized

The first Sir Hugh Laddie Chair in Intellectual Property  Law at University College London would have Sir Robin Jacob as its first appointee. Prof Hugh Laddie,a leading English Judge and an expert in the field of intellectual property law,passed away in November 2008.He was appointed the Chair Professor in Intellectual Property at the University College London in 2006 after he retired from the Bench in 2005.He was also the founder of the Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL). Shamnad

Sir Robin Jacob – Sir Hugh Laddie Chair in Intellectual Property Law ,University College London Read More »

An Affordable Vaccine Model

/ By / Uncategorized

TV Padma of SciDev has a wonderful write up on an interesting experiment involving the Serum Institute of India and the NIH in relation to the production of an affordable meningitis vaccine. As many of you may know, SII is one of the most innovative companies in India. I reproduce some excerpts below: “An unusual vaccine development collaboration, which should lead to the launch of a cheap meningitis vaccine for Sub-Saharan Africa later this year, is emerging as a feasible

An Affordable Vaccine Model Read More »

Patent Pools as Innovation Policy

/ By / Innovation, Patent

A few days ago marked the final step in the establishment of UNITAID initiated patent pool, with negotiations with drug companies expected to start soon. This got me thinking about the viability of patent pools as a concept, in the endeavour to create better, cheaper (or in some cases, just create) drugs for developing country diseases. As a clarification, I do not know exactly what kind of model UNITAID’s patent pool is using. I am simply raising some general questions

Patent Pools as Innovation Policy Read More »

SpicyIP Tidbit: US NGOs go after GWU IP summit too

/ By / Uncategorized

Recently we had posted on the controversies surrounding the GWU-CII summit, primarily alleging that GWU had allowed the summit to be used for propaganda by Big Pharma. While Indian civil organisations had written letters to the Minister of Commerce earlier, 9 US NGOs have now also written to GWU calling for a stop to the fronting of biased industry-sponsored training in India. These include NGOs such as Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, MSF, Oxfam, KEI, etc.  Notably, the letter specifically points

SpicyIP Tidbit: US NGOs go after GWU IP summit too Read More »

India Slams ACTA at TRIPS Council: Addresses Specific Concerns

/ By / Copyright

A few days ago, we reported that India and China were going to take a brazen stand at the WTO TRIPS Council meeting, confronting several issues that emerged in relation to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (see our earlier posts on ACTA). While misgivings about the substantive provisions have continued for a while now, the wider concerns of non-negotiating countries such as India and China revolve around the undesirable precedent of multilateral and bilateral agreements mandating ACTA-implementation and the incorporation of

India Slams ACTA at TRIPS Council: Addresses Specific Concerns Read More »

Copyright Licensing: Online Streaming of Television Shows

/ By / Copyright

I’ve noticed that my television viewing hours have drastically reduced off late and this triggered off a question in my mind – Has television become obsolete or has its content merely shifted to a new medium – the Internet? My friends abroad, stream episode after episode of their favourite shows online (legally), and I was curious to understand how the licensing of these shows worked, and whether India could ever benefit from this potentially inexpensive and easier to use distribution

Copyright Licensing: Online Streaming of Television Shows Read More »

Eroding IP Exhaustion Through Conditional Sales?

/ By / Copyright, Patent

Prashant’s persuasive critique of a recent Delhi High Court judgment dealing with principles of exhaustion was a delight to read. I want to focus on one issue that this case throws up: Can an IP owner whittle away the normal principle of exhaustion through notices and “conditional” sales i.e. imposing conditions to accompany the sale of a product embodying that IP? In the case at hand, could one argue that the sale was “conditional”, since the buyer of the book

Eroding IP Exhaustion Through Conditional Sales? Read More »

Scroll to Top