SpicyIP Tidbits: Sobhraj enforcing his IP rights.

/ By / Uncategorized

Talking about people who are aware of their IP rights, here is (in)famous Charles Sobhraj is all set to sue filmmaker, Prawaal Raman, who is currently filming a movie titled ‘Charles and I’ based on the convict’s life. He has already sent the filmmaker a notice in this regard. After evading police for several years, Sobhraj is currently serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Nepal for the murder of an American tourist. IBN reports that earlier this week Sobhraj […]

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Cannes Controversy

/ By / Uncategorized

Indian controversies at Cannes seem to be stretching beyond what our celebrities are wearing with Reliance Big Entertainment embroiled in a copyright tussle with Mr. Avinaash Jumani, who handles international sales for the Mumbai-based family film distribution company, WEG India Pictures Pvt Ltd. The Telegraph reports that Mr. Jumaani is threatening to take legal action against Anil Ambani’s group on the grounds that the movie “Waiting for Clinton” (a project he says he has purchased) is on the list of

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SpicyIp Tidbits: The Big Bazar Battle

/ By / Trademark

There’s a giant tussle on show in India over a small trademark. Mint gives us the lowdown on what looks like it might be a prolonged battle between Kishore Biyani of Pantaloon Retail and Anil Ambani of Reliance ADAG : and all this over the mark ‘Big Bazar.’ An overview: Reliance ADAG applied for the trademark in November 2006, and claims no exclusive right to ‘Big Bazar’, but has registered for ‘Reliance Big Bazar’ as its preferred tag. Ambani’s conglomerate

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KS Jayaraman on Biotech Patents and the Future of Compulsory Licensing

/ By / Patent

KS Jayaraman, one of India’s most well known science journalists (now with “Nature”), has written a very interesting piece on biotech patents and the prospects of compulsory licensing in developing countries such as India, Brazil and Thailand. Apart from two minor mistakes (he assumes that Tarceva is a biotech drug; and that “non emergency” compulsory licensing grounds in India came about only after 2005), the piece is a very good read. “Patent Threat in Emerging Economies Shifts to Biotech”“Recently revamped

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More cooks for the patent office broth

/ By / Innovation

The USPTO seems willing to consider innovative means of reducing administrative problems – they have decided to review suggestions from students of the George Washington University School of Business. In what promises to be an interesting as well as productive endeavour the “winners of the George Washington University (GWU) School of Business 2008 International Business Case Competition met recently with USPTO senior management to present their proposed solutions to the pressing issues of patent pendency and backlog at the USPTO.”

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Indian Patent Database: Relevant Links

/ By / Patent

Pursuant to our earlier post (covering the government response to our petition for an electronic patent database), here are the links to the relevant portions of the Indian patent office website. 1. For copies of granted patents, see here (as was mentioned in the last post, as per the government response, you should be able to access the complete specifications of about 100,000 patents) 2. For copies of Controllers Decisions, see here. However, when last checked, this was not working

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Pricing on the other side of the globe: Drug Manufaturers speak up in Canada.

/ By / Drug Regulation

If developing countries, thought that the problem with strict regulations, generic drugs and pricing only affected one side of the globe, latest developments in Canada definitely prove them wrong. Canadian generic drug manufacturers are urging their Parliament (and even considering going to Court) to forfeit the idea of new regulations that if implemented, would delay their ability to reproduce drugs, including Viagra and Lipitor. Previously, a manufacturer could (through a Court order) block Health Canada’s approval of the generic competitor

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Choking the Patients???

/ By / Uncategorized

SpicyIP, has in several posts, discussed the issue of generic drug companies taking patients for a ride. The Hindu now reports another instance involving two drugs, theophylline and doxofylline, both of which are prescribed to treat wheezing, shortness of breath, and difficulty in breathing caused by asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and other lung diseases. Both relax and open air passages in the lungs, making it easier to breathe. In short, they are bronchodilators. Theophylline, a scheduled drug, and all its

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Indian Patent Database: Government Response to SpicyIP Petition

/ By / Patent

The government finally responded to our online petition requesting a comprehensive electronic patent database. We thank our readers for their wholehearted support for this petition which garnered around 170 signatures and can be found here. I reproduce the government response below: “No. 8/33/20007-IPR-III Government of India Ministry of Commerce & Industry Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi, Dated 17th April, 2008 To, Shri Shamnad Basheer, Sub : Making Indian Patent Information Public. Sir, Kindly refer to

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SpicyIP:As you sow ,so you reap!

/ By / Patent

IP, Climate Crisis and Food Security. ‘We have arrived at an ‘Era of Consequences’-the take home message from Al Gores’ documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’With Global Warming and climate crisis as the central theme of the film, it succinctly weaves in narrative and event the ensuing planetary emergency and the ominous consequences these issues portend for mankind.‘Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world’s scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert

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