Celebrating 20 Years of IP Excellence

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Wacky Patents 4 – Mode-Enhanced Hindustani Music

This post was first published on 19th December, 2014. It’s a musical world. From the pitter patter of raindrops to pulsating headaches, there is music everywhere. In many languages, voice modulation and tone become part of communication. Ever wondered if a method of creating music could be patented? Well, that’s exactly what Wacky Patent 4, Mode enhanced Hindustani Music is about. US Patent Application No. 10/082,777 filed in February, 2002 by two inventors of Indian Origin, Prabhakar Prahlad Jamkhedkar and Prashant Prabhakar Jamkhedkar, was granted…

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This image depicts a pizza, as the post is about trademarking flavours. Click on the image to read the full post.

Flavour Marks – Can They Become a Reality?

This post was first published on 26th November, 2014. Here is the next post in the series of Student Blog Contest. This post is authored by Amrita Vasudevan. Every city has its food treasures and eating haunts, and Bangalore, for example, has Shivaji Military Hotel's Donne Biryani or CTR's Benne Masala Dose, both of which have quite the fan following. Eating joints like these often become landmarks, and a ‘must visit’ for tourists. We often associate a particular taste or flavour with an…

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The image is of a classroom with students. The post is about copyright over notes. Click on image to view post.

Section 3(ka): A Decision on a Patent Application Related to Mathematical Methods

This post was first published on Aug 6th, 2013.   The IPAB (Intellectual Property Apellate Board) issued an order regarding patentability of a patent application which claimed a specific application of a mathematical method. 3624/DELNP/2005 was filed as a National Phase application by Electronic Navigation Research Institute, Japan at the Delhi Patent Office in August 17, 2005 . The patent application relates to a system for analyzing a time series signal by a method based on Chaos Theory and calculating…

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This Image depicts the word art of 'Personality'. This Image is relevant as the article deals with the Persoanlity Rights in India. Click on this Image for more Information.

Personality Rights in India – Part II

This post was first published on 26th June, 2014.   Justification for Publicity Rights is based on the Lockean Labor Theory, which essentially says that the fruits of one’s labor are one’s own. Therefore, Publicity Rights permit the exploitation of one’s persona by oneself. Unauthorized use of a person’s identity, including the person’s name, voice, image and likeness for commercial gain may give rise to a successful cause of action against the infringing party. Since Publicity Rights are one of the two parts…

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Inventive Step of an Invention Analysed

This post was first published on 16th July, 2014. We will today discuss a case in the Indian Patent history that showcases how the IPAB and the IPO analyse the Inventive Step or Obviousness of an invention. Green Cross Holdings (Appellant) v/s Controller of Patents and Deputy Controller of Patents (Respondents) Case: This judgment, passed on June 18th,  2014 by the IPAB, was based on an appeal made by Green Cross Holdings against the order made by Deputy Controller of Patents on…

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This image reads Evidence in bold red. This post talks about what is admissible as evidence in cases questioning trademarks. Click on the image to read the full post.

Domain Names, Email or Private Communication as Proof of Trademark Use

This post was first published on 7th July, 2014.   In this post, we will look into whether the mere use of trademark as part of a domain name or as an email id or even as private communication between parties can stand as proof of use of a trademark. Documentary proof is generally submitted to show that an Applicant has been continuously using an impugned mark.  It is an effort for Applicants to show trademark examiners how they use the trademark…

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This Image depicts the Vidhaana Soudha of Karnatakaa.This Image is relevant as the article deals with the Goonda Act passed by Karnatakaa Assembly. Click on this Image for more Information.

“Digital Infringers, Beware of the Goonda Act!”

This post was first published on 4th August, 2014.   On 28th July, 2014, the Karnataka State Government passed a legislature, under which a person can now be arrested in Karnataka even before he/she commits an offence, under the IT Act. Shocking, isn't it? Let's shed some more light on it. In case you own a Smartphone and have a WhatsApp account, if the government thinks you are planning to send a 'lascivious' photo to a WhatsApp group, or forward a Copyrighted Song to a…

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This image depicts compilation of source code of a program. This image is relevant as the post is about Intellectual property protection for programs. Click on the image for more information

Intellectual Property Protection for Computer Programs – Part IV

This post was first published on 15th October, 2014.   In the final post of this series, we shall be looking into the concept of software patents and examining the extent to which patent law is effective in protecting computer programs. As mentioned earlier, protection of computer programs under the Copyright Law is limited to the protection of the literal elements of a computer program, i.e., the source code and the object code, and does not extend to the underlying idea and…

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The image has multiple copyright symbols in different colours. The post discusses some cases on fair use exception. Click on image to read post.

Fair Use vs. Copyright Infringement

  This post was first published on 1st September 2014.   1. Cariou vs. Prince Photograph: Patrick Cariou - 2000; Adaptation: Richard Prince – 2008(both via artnet)  Richard Prince, the well-known appropriation artist - one who transforms the work of others to create new meaning in his work was sued by Patrick Cariou, a lesser-known photographer when Prince used several of Cariou’s photographs in a series of collages that were sold for tens of millions of dollars. Richard Prince, for an exhibition in…

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This image depicts the Court Hammer. This image is relevant as patent has been rejected for the Laws of Nature. Click on the image for more information

Patentability of Laws of Nature

This post was first published on 2nd September, 2014.   Today we will discuss a case where a patent was rejected based on the patent ineligible subject matter. Mayo Collaborative Services (Appellants) and Prometheus Laboratories (Respondents) Patents in Dispute: US 6,355,623 and US 6,680,302 Case: Prometheus had an exclusive license over these patents and Mayo was using diagnostic kits based on these patents from Prometheus until 2004 after which Mayo developed its own diagnostic tests for the same purpose. Prometheus sued Mayo for infringement at the…

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