Digging deep for new developments: To harness the wealth of the ocean!

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The Government of India on a new initiative has decided to bolster India’s position as one of the leaders in deep sea bed mining and provide a competitive edge for pharmaceutical companies in the development of new drugs. The Department of Earth Sciences has launched a new programme to harness new beneficial molecules from the sea for “therapeutic purposes”. Launched by the Government as a long term assignment, the programme is spearheaded by the Central Drug Research Institute, with the […]

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And the fight gets dirtier.

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In a follow up to a recent post on allegations of collusion between US drug companies and Indian pharma companies with regard to delaying the entry of generic drugs in the US market the US anti-competitive practices watch dog Federal Trade Commission has identified Ranbaxy amongst 4 other firms as being part of the ploy. It is alleged that these companies recieved in excess of $200 million to delay the entry of generic drugs into the US market till 2012

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A spicy GI

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SpicyIP has always had a natural tendency to report on the ‘spicier’ issues of IP law. So just imagine our excitement when we found out about Geographical Indication protection for spices. We however promise to refrain from over-using the ‘spicy’ puns that come to our minds. The latest is Assam’s ‘Karbi Anglong ginger’ which is well on track to receive GI protection. The district administration recently filed an application claiming GI protection for GIs. The Karbi Anglong ginger is supposed

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Revving up Auto Patent Litigation

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Finally, it seems like the Indian auto sector is catching up, albeit at its own pace, with its global counterparts not just in terms of technology, but also in litigations over technology. The Bajaj-TVS imbroglio couldn’t have started at a more “opportune” moment; an article from The Michigan Technology News has observed that litigations over auto patents are on the rise globally. Here’s the full article along with a podcast of an opinion maker. As an autobuff, I can’t decide

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Spicy IP Tidbit: Indian Pharma companies seek 200% rebate

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The Hindu reports that Indian pharma companies are seeking a 2oo% tax rebate on R&D. Read in conjunction with my recent post on Indian pharma companies entering into collaboration with foreign firms for research we see our pharma companies are intent to promote research in a big way. In its representation to Finance Ministry, industry chamber Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) asserted that incentives in research and development (R&D) are required to boost the credentials of the sector from being a

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Spicy IP Tidbit: Patent Reform in the USA, happy pharma companies in India

/ By / Patent

An interesting piece by Benedetto Della Vedova on the Patent Reform Act about to be passed in America. Read the full piece here. The relevance of this to us in India is that apart from the inclusion of the first to file approach is the introduction of the post-grant review process. Perhaps most damaging, the Patent Reform Act provides a post-grant review process that allows any patent to be challenged ad infinitum. This would increase costs for inventors and jeopardize

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Turning TRIPS on its Head: Cross Retaliation at the WTO

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Many of you may have heard of the Antigua gambling dispute at the WTO. A classic David vs Goliath story. Antigua, a very tiny island nation complained about a US law that restricted Antiguan internet gambling and betting companies from offering their services to US consumers. The WTO ruled that this law violated GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services). It therefore authorised Antigua to retaliate. However, what was unique about the authorisation was that Antigua could suspend it’s TRIPS

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Copyright 101 by Microsoft.

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I came across a very angst ridden article on Microsoft’s new IP curriculum. The full text of the article can be found here. Basically the author seems upset about the attempts of Microsoft to brainwash children with an education program relating to copyright protection. The awareness program is based on the premise that if kids knew about the criminal repercussions and law relating to copyright infringement they would be less likely to indulge in it. Fair enough I guess but

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GIs, TRADITIONAL HANDICRAFTS AND INCENTIVES FOR INDIVIDUAL INNOVATIONS

/ By / Copyright, Design

A lot has been said about Geographical Indications (GIs) and there effectiveness in securing community rights, some may call them Brand rights, in a community’s collective heritage and to protect consumer interests as well. But do GIs accrue any benefit or recognition to an individual from the community, who has made a particularly notable improvement to an existing product, say traditional handicrafts, on which GIs exist?  In other words, do GIs preclude simultaneous existence of individual Intellectual Property Rights in

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SpicyIP Scholarship: IP and the Transformation of Generic Supply

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1. IP and the Transformation of Generic Supply: In an outstanding article, Ken Shadlen examines the relationship between intellectual property (IP) and public health, with a focus on the extension of AIDS treatment in the developing world. It’s titled “The Political Economy of AIDS Treatment: Intellectual Property and the Transformation of Generic Supply” and the citation is “International Studies Quarterly 51 (September 2007), pp. 559-581”. I reproduce the abstract below: “While most of the literature on IP and health examines

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