Indian Bayh Dole in the News: Faith Based IP vs Empiricism

/ By / Uncategorized

Our efforts at sparking up some interest in the proposed Bayh Dole style legislation in India pays off. As readers may be aware, SpicyIP reported on this issue here (this post links back to earlier posts on the theme). We were very concerned with the secretive way in which this bill was sought to be introduced–hopefully with more journalists picking up on this theme, the government will come under some pressure to be a little more open and transparent here. […]

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Bollywood and Patents: A Hooker’s Narrative of “Exploitation”!

/ By / Patent

When I visited one of my friends recently in London, I found that he was deeply engrossed in a bollywood flick titled “Laaga Chunri Mein Daag“. The femme fatale, Rani Mukherjee (my reason for suffering the movie) plays the role of a high class hooker. She finally meets her hero (Abhishek Bachan)—and lo and behold, he turns out to be a world famous patent attorney from India!! And one scene even has him speak at a world patent and trademark

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SpicyIP Tidbits: 2 Kerala rice varieties get GIs

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GI update: The Hindu reports that two rice varieties in the Palakkad district of Kerala have been entered into the GI registry: Two unique rice varieties in the district, ‘Palakkadan matta’ and the medicinal ‘Navara rice,’ have received the Geographical Indication Registry of Intellectual Property India right under the Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999…. Two varieties of Navara, the medicinal rice used in Ayurveda treatment, have secured registration. They are: black glumed and golden yellow glumed

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USV wins appeal against USPTO decision.

/ By / Patent

The latest as reported by PharmaBiz.com and Business Line is that USV Ltd. an Indian Pharma company has won against an appeal against an Order of the USPTO over a drug salt donepezil oxalate. The appeal against the USPTO Order lay with the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences which rendered its decision on Feb 5th, 2008. The decision is available on the website of the Board. The appeal was Appeal No. 2007-4478. At the examination stage the examiner had

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SpicyIP Tidbits: SC refuses to grant Ranbaxy relief in comparative ad case

/ By / Comparative Advertising, Trademark

The Supreme Court refused to stay a Gujarat High Court decision restraining Ranbaxy from airing its controversial ads directed against Paras Pharma’s ‘Moov’ brand. BS has picked up an agency report on this here. The Supreme Court today refused to give any relief to pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories that is seeking permission to air its advertisement which allegedly disparaged “Moov”, the pain reliever brand belonging to its rival group Paras Pharmaceuticals. The Gujarat High Court, while allowing Ahmedabad-based Paras’ appeal,

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SpicyIP Tidbits: Pfizer goes weak at the “knees”

/ By / Patent

In what seems to be a year with mixed fortunes for Pfizer so far, the ruling against the company by US Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit in its suit involving Teva Pharmaceuticals is the latest setback. Pfizer had 4 patents on Celebrex (celecoxib), its blockbuster arthritis drug- 5466823, 5563165, 5760068 and 5972986. According to the Orange Book Blog, the Court invalidated 5760068 on grounds of double patenting in view of 5563165;’068 still had one and a half years left

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SpicyIP Tidbits: Still Some Spark Left in the Flame

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TVS Motors has shown why it still is the third largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the country. Not the one to lose heart and hope despite the injunction from the Madras High Court, TVS Motors relaunched its 125-cc motorcycle “Flame” on Monday with a single spark plug engine. The bike in its twin spark plug avatar was launched last December 13th (werent they triskaidekaphobic?) and lost the company a whopping Rs.100 crores this quarter alone. According to the Business Line, the

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SpicyIP Tidbits: A Software Patent?

/ By / Uncategorized

All these days I was under impression that computer programmes a.k.a softwares were not patentable under s.3(k) of the Patents Act notwithstanding the presence of a teeny-weenie “per se”. May be the patent office is in an “innovative” mood for according to the Business Line, one Mr.Ken Georgie Mathew had applied 18 months ago for a data verification tool called the “Authentic Track Record” (ATR) and so far he has not received any objections. Is it because the Patent Office

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Cheap home movies: the death is nigh?

/ By / Copyright

A year or so of the Indian home entertainment market going into disarray after Moser Baer’s (MB) price cuts, this TOI market report suggests that cheap home videos might be unprofitable after all, and we might relive the days of expensive VCDs (and I thought they were outdated!) and DVDs… Regular readers of this blog might recall SpicyIP’s occasional references to the pricing strategy used by the optical disc major, and how its marketing tactics were not only a deterrent

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Spicy Tidbits: India on a roll- Filings galore!

/ By / Patent

India and Indian companies seem to have started off this quarter of the year with a filing bonanza! Just today, two applications were reported in the news from India- one granted, and the other filed. 1. The ‘Mysore Mallige’ – a variety of jasmine unique to Karnataka, was given the Geographical Indication status, giving the local community the exclusive rights to cultivate these flowers. The report extensively covers the lost glory of Indian botany, which was heavily coveted at one

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