SpicyIP

26/07/2024

CGPDTM has issued a public notice to organize a virtual brainstorming session on the new form 27 (statement on the working of a patent in India) on July 29. Interested stakeholders please join in to share your views. See below for the details.

New Form 27 The office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademark (CGPDTM) issued a notice informing about the organization of a virtual public meeting for brainstorming on the new For…

24/07/2024

In light of recent discussions about implementing stricter measures to address the issue of Look-Alike, Sound-Alike (LASA) drugs, Aditya Bhargava examines whether the current regulatory framework is adequate and delves into various policy recommendations proposed by experts.

In light of the news surrounding the possibility of implementation of strict measures against Look Alike Sound Alike (LASA) drugs, we are pleased to bring to you this discussion by Aditya Bhargava.…

24/07/2024

In an interesting turn of events, the defendant in Adidas v. Keshav H. Tulsiani claimed affection towards their sister as a reason for their adoption of the deceptively similar 'Adidas' mark! Rishabh Deshpande writes about this creative defense by the defendant and the DHC's judgment rejecting it.



https://spicyip.com/2024/07/adidas-v-keshav-h-tulsiani-ors-a-case-of-skewed-contentions.html

23/07/2024

We are pleased to bring to you this sponsored post by QuickCompany about the new update to their Trademark Watch software. Read on below for more details!

We are pleased to bring to you this sponsored post by QuickCompany about the new update to their Trademark Watch software. For more details, read on below. Trademark Watch: AI Powered TM Management…

23/07/2024

The DHC recently accepted an appeal against the IPO order rejecting an invention related to E-Cigarettes for being contrary to public order and morality. Noting that this case may pave the way for a robust interpretation of Section 3(b) of the Patents Act, Tejaswini Kaushal discusses the potential reasons for IPO's strict stance towards E-Cigarettes by inter alia taking a dive into the regulations governing the administration of these smoking devices.

The single judge bench of the Delhi High Court comprising of J. Mini Pushkarna on 4 July 2024 passed an order in Phillip Morris Products SA v. Assistant Controller Of Patents And Design accepting&n…

23/07/2024

Here is our recap of last week’s top IP developments including summary of the posts on the “origin” of Khadi, an empirical study on the ways “scandalous” and “obscene” marks are prosecuted by the Trademark Registry, quia timet injunction by the DHC in Roche v. Zydus. This and much more in this SpicyIP Weekly Review. Anything we are missing out on? Drop a comment below to let us know.

Here is our recap of last week’s top IP developments including summary of the posts on the “origin” of Khadi, an empirical study on the ways “scandalous” and “obscene” marks are prosecuted by …

23/07/2024

Sharing his personal experience at the prestigious ATRIP - Teaching and Research in IP Congress where he attended as the FICPI - International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys Young Scholar Prize winner, Lokesh Vyas brings us some insightful comments he observed over the course of the 4 day event, as well as some observations of perhaps special interest to those in the Global South.

Image from here Salaam … Recently, I met Prashant Reddy who shared his experience of the 2018 WIPO-WTO colloquium for Teachers of IP from Developing Countries and Countries in Transition. While I w…

23/07/2024

Back to back flashbacks, as right on the heels of the "March" post, Lokesh Vyas brings us a look at the pages from April, from 2005 to present day, on SpicyIP. Read on below for a quick look at posts over the years on topics including jurisdictional issues in IP disputes, parallel importation, intermediary liability, and technology transfer.

Image from here As I said in the “Marchs” post, here’s the April sift and 11th post of our Sifting through SpicyIP pages series. Previously, we have journeyed through the SpicyIP’s pages from June …

23/07/2024

After a brief hiatus, Lokesh Vyas is back with the flashback series looking at SpicyIP posts through the years, from 2005 to present date. This time, he looks at the months of March through these years, including looking at posts on Section 3(d), compulsory licenses, the Madrid Protocol, and ex-parte interim injunctions.

Image from here Namaskar … I am back with the “Sifting Through SpicyIP Pages” series! Apologies for the long delay; life got busier for some undesirable reasons. But things have finally…

20/07/2024

Khadi’s Origin and Legal Battles: Back to the Future (Part 2)

Following the discussion in Part 1, on the “origin” of Khadi’s meaning under the Khaddar Act, in Part II of this two part post Subhadeep Chowdhury builds an argument for an interdisciplinary approach to study IP with the concept of origin as the subject matter.

(You can find part 1 here https://spicyip.com/2024/07/part-1-khadis-origin-and-legal-battles-unraveling-the-historical-significance.html)

Following the Part 1’s discussion on the “origin” of Khadi’s meaning under the Khaddar Act, in Part II of his two part post Subhadeep builds an argument for an interdiscipli…

20/07/2024

Khadi's Origin and Legal Battles: Unraveling the Historical Significance (Part 1)

Discussing "Origin" as a legal concept as enshrined under different IP laws with "Khadi" as a case study, we are pleased to bring to you this very interesting historical dive by Subhadeep Chowdhury. In this post, Subhadeep discusses the recent legal battles pertaining to "Khadi" and recounts how Khadi derived its meaning (legally) in light of the Khaddar (Name Protection) Act, 1934.

Discussing “Origin” as a legal concept as enshrined under different IP laws with “Khadi” as a case study, we are pleased to bring to you this very interesting historical div…

20/07/2024

Recently, the MHC came down heavily on the Indian Patent Office in Ulm University v. Asst. Controller of Patents for its non-speaking order rejecting a patent application. Discussing the issues flagged by the court, especially concerning the lack of discussion on obviousness and the application of prior art, Mathews P. George highlights some pressing questions about the repercussions (if any) for such orders by the IPO.

https://spicyip.com/2024/07/ulm-university-v-asst-controller-of-patents-and-designs-madras-high-court-quashes-unreasoned-order-of-patent-office.html

17/07/2024

Continuing the discussion based on empirical data around the absolute ground of refusing to register the mark for being obscene or scandalous, in Part II of their post Prof. Ram Mohan M P, Aditya Gupta, and Vijay V Venkitesh highlight the inconsistencies in the administration of Section 9(2)(c) objections by the Trade Marks Registry.

Continuing the discussion based on empirical data around the absolute ground of refusing to register the mark for being obscene or scandalous, in Part II of their post Prof. M P Ram Mohan, Aditya G…

17/07/2024

What does data say about marks that are considered obscene or scandalous by the Indian Trademark Registry? Take a look at Part I of this fascinating guest post by Ram Mohan M P, Aditya Gupta, Vijay V Venkitesh explaining the trend of prosecution of the marks objected under Section 9 (2)(c) by the Indian Trade Mark Registry, after compiling a robust dataset comprising of information from different examination reports, responses to the objections, oppositions and eventual grants.

It’s with great pleasure that we bring to our readers this 2 part guest post by Prof. M P Ram Mohan, Aditya Gupta, and Vijay V Venkitesh, that dives into the question of what marks are consid…

17/07/2024

Recently the DHC passed granted Roche a quia timet injunction, restricting Zydus to launch its biosimilar version of anti cancer drug Perjeta. Highlighting the court's the unusual rationale for this injunction, Tejaswini Kaushal discusses what these injunctions are and when they can be granted.

On July 9, 2024, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court (DHC), presided over by Justice Sanjeev Narula, issued a 6-page order in the matter of F-Hoffmann-La Roche AG & Anr. v. Zydus Lifes…

26/06/2024

We are pleased to bring to you this sponsored post by PatSeer on the launch of their AI search V2. Read on below for more details.

We are pleased to bring to you this sponsored post by PatSeer on the launch of their AI search V2. For more details, read on below. AI Searches get 33% Better with the New PatSeer’s AI Search…

07/05/2024

The DHC's observation about the Applicant's responsibility to serve the Counter Statements instead of the TM Registry is perhaps one of the most under-discussed aspects of the Sun Pharma v. Dabut case. Highlighting the legislative history behind the service of Counter Statements, Anurathna Mathivanan and Nivrati Gupta explain the implications of this decision. The post will surely be of interest to TM prosecution attorneys. Check it out below!

One of the seemingly under-discussed aspects of the Delhi High Court’s decision in Sun Pharma v. Dabur India is the Court’s passing comments on the responsibility to serve the Counter-S…

05/05/2024

The Delhi High Court, on 24th April, passed an order that our patent law enthusiast readers will be very interested in! Reviving, (and at least temporarily settling!) questions around what is therapeutic efficacy under Section 3(d) and the distinctions between coverage and disclosure (amongst other questions), the 86 page judgement is an interesting one to go through. Read on for Shivam Kaushik's take on this judgment:

The Delhi High Court, on 24th April, passed an order that our patent law enthusiast readers will be very interested in! Reviving, (and at least temporarily settling!) questions around what is thera…

28/02/2024

Meet the Inaugural SpicyIP Doctoral Fellow!
SpicyIP is proud to announce the inaugural SpicyIP Doctoral Fellowship! This fellowship is awarded to a PhD candidate in an Indian University, whose doctoral studies are on IP and/or innovation policy, with a focus on public interest, transparency and accountability, or socially beneficial legal and policy levers. And the first ever receipient of the fellowship is Ms. Malobika Sen! Malobika is a 2nd year PhD scholar and a full-time Teaching Assistant at WBNUJS, Kolkata, who is working on examining the need for, and contribution of "Experts" in IP dispute adjudication.

Read on below as she explains her motivation for her dissertation, her research problem, and her expectations from the fellowship!

SpicyIP Doctoral Fellow Malobika Sen Our readers would have noticed that since November 2023, we have been publishing hard hitting, incisive posts by our fantastic two new SpicyIP Student Fellows Y…

28/02/2024

In the context of Section 3(i), the DHC recently clarified that a 'method of treatment' is distinct from a 'method of producing a substance' that can later be used in the treatment. Read Tejaswini's post to know more about the decision and how it fares with the MHC order on Section 3(i) in the Chinese University of Hong Kong case.

On 5th Feb, a Single Bench (SB) of the Delhi High Court (DHC) overturned a previous order by the Controller General of Patents that had classified the “method of producing ‘protein enriched blood …

28/02/2024

Does DHC DB's decision on product-by-process claims bring clarity to this concept that has seemingly remained alien to Indian patent jurisprudence? Or does it suffer from the same issues of reading the product and process claims in silos like the Single Judge's decision that it sets aside? Read Yogesh's take on this decision below!

Image from here The Delhi High Court (DHC) judgement in Vifor (International) Ltd. v. MSN Laboratories Pvt. Ltd.,explaining and allowing product-by-process claims as fundamentally concerned with th…

28/02/2024

Legislative Oversight? Addressing the High Court Jurisdiction Vacuum Post-IPAB vis-a-vis Cancellation Petitions under the Trademark Act. Kevin discusses his thoughts on the ability of High Courts to hear rectification petitions in light of the recent DHC order in Hershey Company vs Dilip Kumar Bacha.

Recently, the Delhi High Court referred 3 questions regarding the jurisdiction of a High Court to hear trademark rectification applications, to a larger bench. Discussing this controversy along wit…

19/02/2024

Can Section 3(d) be applied to a non pharmaceutical invention? The MHC in Novozymes v. Asst. Controller of Patents and Designs made some interesting observations on this issue. In this detailed post discussing the order, Amit Tailor highlights what can be ‘efficacy’ for such a subject matter.

Can Section 3(d) be applied to a non pharmaceutical invention? The MHC in Novozymes v. Asst. Controller of Patents and Designs made some interesting observations on this issue. Discussing the court…

19/02/2024

Here is our recap of last week’s top IP developments. Last week we published 3 posts on the E&Y’s report on music publishing in India, MHC’s judgement clarifying the jurisdiction of a High Court to hear writ petitions against orders of the Patent Office, and the CGPDTM’s open house help desk portal. Anything we are missing out on? Drop a comment below and let us know. This weekly review is authored by Kevin Preji.

Here is our recap of last week’s top IP developments. Last week we published 3 posts on the E&Y’s report on music publishing in India, MHC’s judgement clarifying the jurisdiction of a High Cour…

15/02/2024

CGPDTM Launches Open House Helpdesk Portal! Read on below to learn more about the portal and our suggestions for fine-tuning it. Do you think this move will help in grievance redressal? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Image from here In a welcome development, the office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) launched the Open House Helpdesk Portal on February 14, to “provide swi…

12/02/2024

Highlighting the frequently overlooked matter of the disorganized music sector and music publishing, E&Y released its 'The Rise of Music Publishing in India' report in December 2023. Tejaswini delves into and scrutinizes key bits from this report, especially analyzing the crucial call for an enhanced social security framework for gig workers.

Thanks to Achille Forler, who contributed to this report, for directing us to it.

Every year, a diverse community of over 40,000 music creators in India produces a remarkable 20,000 to 25,000 original songs! This sector contributes substantially to India’s revenue, account…