Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

The featured image shows many strips of tablets and a thermometer on a grey background. The post is regarding the trademark dispute between Cadila health care and Sun Pharma . To know more please click here.

The 3D Effect of Novartis Case on Genetic Inventions

  The Novartis decision of the Indian Supreme Court rejecting patentability of the cancer drug, Imatinib Mesylate in its beta crystalline form (commonly called 'Glivac'), has been commended for its outlook on public interest and access to health. It was in fact an important decision for cancer patients as it removes the last possible hurdle to access the drug at one-tenth of its cost, which was around Rs. 1, 20, 000/- per month. The main issue in the case revolved around…

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Laws of Nature / State of Art Interface

The laws of nature exclusion is one of the basic exceptions to patent eligibility in many jurisdictions. While the extent of its applicability may vary from country to country, it is recognized as one of the important elements for subject matter enquiry with respect to biology based inventions. Laws of nature include products of nature, natural relationships and natural phenomena, among others. The test that is commonly followed for determining whether an invention falls within the scope of laws of…

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‘Fair Use’ – Professors versus Publishers

  In a recent judgment, A U.S. Court ruled in favor of Georgia State University’s professors’ using excerpts of published works for the purpose of education. The case primarily rules in favor of the professors and the university on the issue of Copyright Infringement. The case involved Georgia State University on the defending side and three major publishing companies namely, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and SAGE publications as the plaintiffs who had collectively filed around 74 copyright infringement claims against…

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This image depicts tyres. This post is about how the court answered the question s to who owns the goodwill for a trademark-the seller or the manufacturer in a case. Click on the image to read the full post.

“Who Owns the Goodwill in a Mark?”- Coin Flips in Favour of the Manufacturer

This post was first published on 15th February, 2012.   A trademark associates a considerable amount of goodwill with a product and hence businesses go to great extents to exploit this potential of a trademark and therefore, they strive hard to protect their trademarks. A recent instance where a seller of a product fought with the manufacturer of the product over the ownership of the trademark is the Trans Tyres India Pvt. Ltd. v. Double Coin Holdings Ltd. & Anr. case, which…

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Research Institutes and Patent Suits

  This post was first published on February 9, 2012. Research centres today are waking up to the revenue potential of their research data and are ready to go to the extent of fighting legal battles to claim, protect and benefit from their intellectual property. One such battle is the lawsuit filed by the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at Pennsylvania against its former scientific director, Dr. Craig B. Thompson (who is currently the President & CEO of Memorial…

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The featured image is of the trademark symbol . The post is abouT change in the name of Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) to European Union Intellectual Property Office. please click here to read more.

Choosing the Right Trademark- How Important is it Anyway?

  First Publication Date: 8th January 2010   How important is it to choose the right trademark and how to choose the apt mark? With more and more courts and decisions focusing on the strength of the mark it definitely becomes quintessential to choose and apply for the right trademark. We don't have to search hard to look for such illustrations where the strength of the mark in some way decided the fate of the case. Fenil in his post titled "Could exclusivity…

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This image depicts the technological advancement that is 'stem cell regeneration'. It depicts the harvesting of stem cells in a perti dish and their development into a human organ. But is this miracle patentable? Click on the image to read the full post.

ECJ Stems “Stem Cell” Patents

The sticky nature of Biotechnology research has always led to massive debates every time there was a path-breaking discovery. It happened with Nucleic acids, amino acids, genetic modifications, transgenic animals, and now stem cell research. This has been mainly because of its close and unavoidable link to life. When we came to believe that stem cell therapy for all monstrous ailments is around the corner, the moral police made its presence felt. After the famous WARF patents in the US,…

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