Living in Glass Houses and Throwing Stones: Who cares about piracy?

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I came across a recent article on India’s attempt to step up the fight against piracy. Articles on piracy or efforts to curb it are certainly not rare. I’ve personally heard it being debated and discussed ad nauseum at numerous public and private fora. This time though, it stirred a little bit more interest in me than before. Admittedly, one of the reasons for this might be that I’ve been reading the book “Hot Property” by Pat Choate. The book …

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Spicyip tidbits

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1. The Assam Govt to seek GI rights for Eri, Komal,Chau Pursuant to the G.I registration of Muga in Assam, the G.I momentum is agthering pace in the State. Recall spicyip tidbit news feed Registration of the geographical indication (GI) rights of Muga has ostensibly created a lot of passion in the State of Assam. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today announced at a function that the State Government would try also to protect the interests of the growers of Eri,Komal,Cchaul, …

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NOVARTIS AND THE "C" WORD: FLAWED PATENT STRATEGY

/ By / Patent

A couple of more news reports have emerged on the threat by Novartis to move its investments to China, in the wake of the Glivec patent litigation. In an earlier post, SpicyIP had noted: “Evoking the name of China is a clever move and one aimed at jolting our Ministers and bureaucrats into action. I couldn’t help being amused at the paradox though. China’s IP regime being lauded by an MNC?? The sun must have risen in the West today!! …

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Counterfeiting Claims and Taming the Dragon!

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Not Exactly short on trivia, but what is the national animal of China? Is it the dragon or the monkey or are they waiting to make a clone to appoint as one? If the economic culture is anything to go by then my answer would be’Monkey’ in the buzzer round! Recall the parable of the hat maker and the monkey, who tricked the monkey into returning his stolen hats by getting the monkey to ‘copy his act’. ‘Copying’ and Couterfeiting …

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INDIA’S TRYST WITH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: TOWARDS A "MIDDLE PATH"?

/ By / Innovation, Patent

As part of its efforts to celebrate the 60th anniversary of India’s independence, DNA requested me to write an article on India and intellectual property. For those interested, it can be found here. I’ve also copied it below. I’ve advocated in this article that the Novartis patent case be permitted to run its course and the matter decided on merits by the IPAB/courts, so that we get some guidance on how “efficacy” is to be interpreted. This seems a particularly …

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SPICYIP TIDBITS

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1.Muga Recognised as Assams’Original Yarn A Report from the Assam Tribune After a long wait, Assam’s luminous golden muga silk has now secured the recognition under the Intellectual Property Rights that it has its origin in Assam only. In the changed trade and commercial scenario under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime, this recognition called Geographical Indications (GI) — will definitely provide better legal protection to this golden yarn, its fabric and the people connected with their production. The certificate …

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Lessons to be learnt from License to remake My Cousin Vinny

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Funny how the Indian Entertainment Industry seems somewhat schizophrenic at times! Readers might recall that in my last post on the Urmi Juvekar copyright infringement case, I had said it is strange that the courts seem to have found a concept to be copyrightable. I also opined that the copyright laws don’t seem to warrant such a decision even though equity would certainly call for it. A recent newspaper report might actually strengthen the argument in favor of Ms. Juvekar’s …

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YOGA PATENT CONTROVERSY: RIP…

/ By / Patent

Thankfully, the government is now well advised (by the Indian embassy in the US), that there is no cause for concern on the Yoga patent front–particularly since there are no patents on Yoga asanas. Readers will recollect that SpicyIP has been reiterating this point and cautioning against the media hype generated in the wake of Suketu Mehta’s NY Times editorial. Interested readers can click on a label titled “Yoga” on the left hand side of the SpicyIP homepage. Sandeep Joshi …

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Bilateral Buzz on IPRs’

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A fortnight of hectic parlays on trade negotiations where key accords where signed and strategic understandings arrived at . Swiss Fondue and fine Basmati do not a meal together make’, but yes, the Indian bilateral menu has been served with a generous serving of Swiss and Pakistani fare comprising of key IPR issues. India and Switzerland on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on safeguarding intellectual property rights (IPRs). The agreement envisages setting up of a joint committee to …

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SPICYIP TIDBITS

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1. Asia Pacific Countries wish to copy Section 3(d) The ET reports: “More than 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region are planning to adopt the much-debated provision which makes it difficult for drug makers to get patent protection for anything less than breakthroughs in pharmaceutical research. The provision describes what sort of pharmaceutical substance is worthy of a patent. The idea is to prevent companies from blocking the entry of cheaper rival products by passing off old medicines in new …

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