Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

Special Report

Chapter VI. Compulsory Licensing & Local Working – Comprehending Apprehending or Apprehending Comprehension?

This post was first published on 4th July, 2014.   Compulsory Licenses are licenses granted by the government or the patent office, irrespective of whether the patent holder gives consent to such a license. For most types of Compulsory Licenses, the granting authority fixes the royalty payable to the patent holder. Compulsory Licenses, with respect to patents, are of various types: General Compulsory License – Granted for all types of inventions when certain predefined parameters are satisfied; Compulsory License in National Emergency,…

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Cross-Border Patent Protection

  This post was first published on July 16th, 2014.   Patent protection is territorial in nature. A patent application filed in a country can entail the enjoyment of patent rights in that country only and thus a patent application has to be filed in countries where the applicant intends to gain protection. Thus in order to seek patent protection in multiple countries, the applicant will have to file the application in each of these countries. There is no limitation on the…

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FINAL PUB

The Right Time and Means to Publish a Patent Application

This post was first published on 18th July, 2014.   If an invention has been published or publicly displayed, it will not be eligible for patenting except for in certain cases. As part of this post, we will look at an essential stage in the patenting process called Publication. We will also discuss the exceptions, where prior publication may not hinder the patenting of an invention. In India, once an application for a patent has been made, the application shall be published by the Patent Office…

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Denial of Opportunity to be Heard Violates Principle of Natural Justice

This post was first published on 16th July, 2014.   Today, we will take a look at a case where the IPAB ruled in favor of the appellant, remanding the case back to the Controller on the principle of natural justice! Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) (Appellant) v/s Controller General of Patents and The Assistant Controller of Patents (Respondents) Case: This particular order is in response to an appeal filed by Ericsson against the order passed by The Assistant Controller of Patents rejecting the…

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“Children, Don’t Just Invent, File Patents!”

This post was first published on 14th November, 2014.   The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age - Aldous Huxley Every child is a genius. I wish all SiNApSE readers a very Happy Children's Day. This post brings you the knowledge about 4-year-old Sydney Dittman, who invented an aid for using knobs, called Aid for grasping round knobs (US 5231733), an extremely useful invention for the disabled. She invented it while playing with her toys…

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This image depicts two person trying to put the puzzle together. This image is relevant as it was decided in the case of Sega vs Accolade that Reverse Engineering is limited by Reason. Click on the image for more information

Reverse Engineering is Legitimated by Reason: Sega v. Accolade

This post was first published on 11th November, 2014.   In one of our recent posts on reverse engineering, we discussed fair use for intermediate copying. Today, we will look into another landmark case that legitimizes copying based on a justifiable reason! In Sega v. Accolade, Accolade used a two-step process to create video games compatible with the Sega Genesis game console. The first step was to reverse engineer the system and create a development manual. Accolade purchased a Genesis video game console and three…

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Patent War: Is the US Arm-twisting India?

This post was first published on 4th September, 2014. India’s domestic Patent Laws have flourished prominently and recent patent rulings have suggested that Indian Patent Laws are consumer friendly. However, recent discussions with the US prompted a need for us to defend our IPR regime. In their view, the underlying Indian Law still tends to favor weaker rather than stronger protection of IP. A number of issues raised in negotiations on TRIPS regime for implementation of Patent Laws in developing countries such…

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Patently Asia – A Drug War!

This post was first published on 25th November, 2014. Japanese Patent about a pain-killing drug extracted from 'Kratom' (Mitragyna Speciosa), a well-known Southeast Asian medicinal plant, is creating contradictions. Patent documents and other publications reviewed, are silent on the origin of Kratom utilized by Chiba and Josai. Patents have been issued in Japan and the US, and patent applications may be pending elsewhere.   How the Plant became a Painkiller drug? In the early 2000s, Japanese researchers began analyzing compounds extracted from Kratom as part of a program to assess medicinal…

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Wacky Patents 2 – Ouija Board

This post was first published on 14th November, 2014. Next up in the series of Wacky Patents is a board game which has spooked people for ages! This humble board game has been a source of spook for many. Ouija (pronounced wee-jee) is derived from compounded French word, ‘Oui’ and German word, ‘Ja’, both meaning “Yes”. It was originally a trademark owned by Kennedy Novelty Co. which later became generic when people started to use the word for any talking board. What…

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Indian Patent Portfolio of German Car Manufacturers

This post was first published on 16th April, 2012.   Germany is considered to be the birthplace of the automobile since late 1870's when Karl Benz and Nikolaus Otto independently developed four-stroke internal combustion engines. Germany has the largest share of passenger car production in Europe with over 29% market share, followed by France (18%), Spain (13%) and the United Kingdom (9%). Nearly six million vehicles are produced in Germany each year, and approximately 5.5 million are produced overseas by German brands.…

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