Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

This image depicts Steinway Grand Piano Iron Plates and Strings. This image is relevant as the post is about the Birthday of the Inventor of Piano. Click on the image for full description.

Happy Birthday Inventor of Piano

  Today’s Google doodle celebrates the 360th birthday of Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco, who was credited with inventing the modern piano. Bartolomeo Cristofori was born on May 4, 1655 in Padua, Republic of Venice in Northern Italy. At the age of 33, he was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany. He was hired not only to be a musical instrument technician, but also possibly as a musical instrument inventor. Cristofori was an expert harpsichord (as piano was known…

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This image depicts about Humanity First which is an international charitable trust established to promote and safeguard the preservation of human life and dignity. This is relevant as OSTP & USPTO give due Recognition to game changing Innovators. Click on the image for full description.

OSTP & USPTO give Recognition to Innovators

  On April 20, the OSTP (Office of Science and Technology Policy) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) hosted the 2015 - Patents for Humanity Awards in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The USPTO announced the winners on April 13, 2015. Patents for Humanity is the USPTO's voluntary prize competition for patent owners and licensees. The program was launched at The White House in February, 2012 for promoting businesses of all kinds to apply their innovations to address…

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Mylan settles Patent Litigation with Pfizer

After Teva, Mylan has recently settled its patent litigation with Pfizer. After the settlement, a generic version of the drug is expected to hit the market in 2017, instead of 2020, the year of patent expiry in USA. The early release of the drug is expected to reduce the cost of the drug, benefiting millions of users as it happened in Europe and Canada in 2013/2014. The drug, Sildenafil, expired in Europe in 2013, and was the subject of patent…

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This image depicts a hand holding a glass ball having image of an eye over it. This image is relevant as it shows the Technological Growth using Patents. Click on the image for full description.

Predicting Technological Growth using Patents

  Engineers at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have developed a technique for forecasting technological advancement. Researchers successfully determined the improvement rates of 28 different technologies, including solar photovoltaic, 3-D printing, fuel-cell technology, and genome sequencing. They started by scanning approximately 500,000 technology related patents using a new method for selecting the patents that suit each technology. By analysing metrics of patents in each domain they found that some forward citations predict technological growth more than others. They devised an equation using…

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The image depicts a Gavel which is used in the court to bring attention of the Court Personnel before any Ruling. It is relevant as the post is about Pre-Grant and Post-Grant Oppositions. Click on the image for full Description.

Introduction to Pre-grant & Post-grant Oppositions to Patent Applications

Chapter VI of the Patent Rules, 2003 deals with Opposition proceedings. Rule 55 states that opposition by representation against the grant of a patent be duly field via Form 7 and sent to the Controller in duplicate. Rule 57 lays down rule regarding filing of a written statement of opposition and evidence. By the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 a dichotomy was inserted for the first time in the Patents Act with effect from January 1, 2005 by providing for “opposition…

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This image depicts the title creativity. This image is relevant because this post talks about the real role played by IP protection in creativity. Click on the image to view full post.

Role of Intellectual Property in Promoting Creativity

Does the Intellectual Property Regime play a role in promoting creativity? As stated by most governments, the objective of patent, copyright, design and other laws is to promote the progress of inventive activity and creativity. Are these laws actually achieving their stated objective? While most of us would like to believe that they are, no empirical study has been able to conclusively prove so far that IP laws actually promote creativity. The logical question that follows would be whether we…

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This image depicts Motoactv Smartwatch. This image is relevant as the post is about Google and Cancer Treatment. Click on the image for full description.

Nanoparticle Phoresis, Immense Potential

  Calico, an independent R&D Biotech company established by Google Inc. and Arthur in 2013, is looking for ways to cure cancer, stop ageing and potentially make humans immortal. Google has been awarded a patent for ‘Nanoparticle Phoresis’ on March 5, 2015. The patent was filed in September, 2013 by Andrew Conrad, Head of Google’s Life Sciences division. The patent talks about Nanoparticle Phoresis which is a device that is able to transmit energy into a person’s body by radio frequencies, magnetic fields,…

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Burger King v. McDonalds

Burger King and McDonald’s: Can Taste be Patented?

Here is the next post in the series of Student Blog Contest. This post is authored by Neerja Gurnani. I recently went to the Burger King outlet that has been causing immense amounts of hype in Indian teenagers, stood in queue, got a burger, and eagerly bit into it, expecting my mind to be blown. Instead, I was greeted with a very familiar taste – that of a McDonald’s burger. This led me to ask, can taste be patented? Recipes…

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This image depicts the logo of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. This image is relevant because in this post, the U.S. talks about the credibility of India's Intellectual Property Enforcement. Click on the image to view full post.

OCR: Credibility of India’s Intellectual Property Enforcement in Question

United States Trade Representative (USTR) ordered an Out of Cycle Review (OCR) for India in October. While the USTR insists that the aim of this exercise is to provide constructive feedback to India in order to improve its IP protection and enforcement, many in India are not happy about this move. Not only has the government criticized this move, but also refused to participate in it arguing that the US laws are not applicable to India. Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Commerce…

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