THE MASHELKAR COMMITTEE REPORT AND “INDUSTRY” CAPTURE ALLEGATIONS

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I was greeted this morning by a TOI editorial written by a colleague of mine from Oxford, Sudhir Krishnaswamy, who now teaches at the National Law School, Bangalore. I’ve always respected Sudhir as someone who exuded academic rigour—and was therefore surprised at reading an editorial that rested on superficial analysis and touted fancy terms. Even more surprising was the fact that this came after we had exchanged some communications on this theme in the past. Sudhir had emailed asking for …

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The eBay-Rowling imbroglio – PART I

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When Shamnad drew my attention to a report on the purported injunction against eBay as granted by an Indian court, I was quite surprised (to put it very mildly)! In India the courts have traditionally taken a stand against ISP liability and if such an injunction had indeed been granted it would diametrically change this position. Yet, despite the news.com report (hyperlinked above) having used fairly cautious language, other media reports on the issue such as times online contain unequivocal …

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New Antimalarial Pill: Encouraging R&D for Neglected Diseases

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The International Herald Tribune carries this interesting story of a PPP (Public Private Partnership) between Sanofi Aventis and DNdI (Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative) that resulted in a new and useful malaria pill. The news item states: “A new, cheap pill to treat malaria was introduced Thursday, the first product of an innovative partnership between an international drug company and a medical charity. The medicine, called ASAQ, is a pill combining artemisinin, invented in China using sweet wormwood and hailed …

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India gives a much awaited nod to the Madrid Protocol

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The Indian Cabinet has approved a plan for the country to accede to the Madrid Protocol. If the proposal gets the backing of the Parliament, international trade mark owners will be able to extend their rights to the world’s second most populous country using the Madrid system, and Indian applicants will be able to extend their trade marks overseas. (See the detailed report in MIP) What does this mean for trademark owners in the light of the Trade Marks Act, …

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TOWARDS A CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MASHELKAR REPORT CONTROVERSY: PART II

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I’ve deliberately changed the title of this “series” to enable a more constructive engagement with the debates around this theme. I’ve received a number of emails that continue to query me on why I argue that section 3(d) is incompatible with TRIPS and why my report stated so. I do no such thing. Let me use this post to briefly dispose of this issue. I’ve argued in an earlier post that section 3(d), according to my reading, is perfectly compatible …

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Kondapalli toys get GI protection

/ By / Geographical Indication

Kondapalli toys are the most recent category of handicrafts to obtain Geographical Indications (GI) protection in India, being only the second handicraft from the state of Andhra Pradesh to receive such protection. Made in the village of Kondapalli on National Highway No. 9, 25 km from Vijaywada, this art form can be traced back to the times of Sri Krishna Deva Raya. Toy making in Kondapalli is an intricate process which even to this day is done only by hand …

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DECONSTRUCTING THE MASHELKAR COMMITTEE REPORT CONTROVERSY :PART 1

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Coming as I do from the relatively apolitical world of research and academia, the events of the last two weeks have taken me by surprise and left me wondering as to how easy it is for the substantive issues in any debate to get sidelined. I thought I’d reflect on the “real” issues surrounding this controversy once the “name” calling and personal/ad hominem attacks had died down. But it only seems to be getting worse. Friends keep asking me as …

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The Mashelkar Committee Report on Patents: Placing it in context OR Reading the lines and not “between” them

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Having just completed a hectic 4 day IP conference co-organised by the George Washington University and the CII, the last thing on my mind was “intellectual property”. I just wasn’t going to sit and brood about the very topic that had “exhausted” me in those 4 days (“exhaustion” in the context of intellectual property rights is a joke that only IP aficionados will get). Fortunately or unfortunately, my flight out of Goa, where we incidentally had the last day of …

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Breach of Confidentiality – taking a few steps back?

/ By / Others

A few days ago someone in the Delhi High Court drew my attention to the decision of the Single Judge in American Express Bank Ltd. v. Priya Puri (CS(OS) No. 1442/2005). This was a case that essentially involved a breach of confidentiality/ trade secrets action against a former employee of American Express Bank. My first reaction was “Given that the Plaintiff was seeking to enforce several expressly worded confidentiality clauses in the contract of an ex-employee, coupled with actual evidence …

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INCENTIVISING DRUGS IN INDIA: YET ANOTHER IP LEGISLATION

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It appears that the government is looking at more ways to incentivise drug discovery and to encourage patenting in this regard. A news item (http://www.indiaenews.com/business/20061125/30030.htm) states: “India will soon have a law to provide incentives to scientists and public enterprises in the biotechnology sector for creating patents, Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said Saturday. ‘We are bringing in a legislation in the budget session of parliament that will enable scientists to receive one-third of the value of the …

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