The Bill bearing the title “The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021”was introduced on Feb 11, 2021 in the Parliament by the Union Finance Minister. While seeking to dismantle the IPAB, the Bill proposes to transfer its powers to High Courts (for patent, trademarks, GI, Plant Varieties related issues) and to Commercial Courts (for copyright matters). The […]
As the Department for promotion of industry and Internal trade (DPIIT) launches a website and mobile app for Intellectual property right, I am but reminded of the quote by Victor Hugo “There is only one thing stronger than all the armies of the world: and that is an idea whose time has come.” I do believe the time has come […]
To nurture innovation and creativity in a knowledge economy, Indian Government has reduced the official fees for filing of patent application, requesting for normal or expedited examination and for renewing the granted patents to the tune of 60 to 68 percent especially for MSMEs who play a key role in the economic growth of India. The fee reduction has also […]
Intellectual Property is used to describe the results of creative and innovative endeavors. It is called as intellectual since it is created by the intellect of human mind and as property because like tangible property the intellectual property which is an intangible property can also be owned, sold, leased or transferred. There are different ways of protecting intellectual property. Innovative […]
The Delhi high court on September 16, 2016 dismissed the suits by three international publishers against the sale of photocopied books and pages in Delhi University, a landmark verdict likely to have a wide-reaching impact on copyright laws in India. Claiming that “copyright is not a divine right,” Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw observed that photocopying material for educational purposes was […]
Background: Mr Tobias Mc Fadden Defendant, runs a lighting and sound system shop in which he offers access to a Wi-Fi network to the general public free of charge in order to draw the attention of potential customers to his goods and services. In 2010, a musical work was unlawfully offered for downloading via that internet connection. The Landgericht München […]
On May 12, 2016 the USPTO issued a Memorandum to the Patent Examining Corps on patent eligibility in view of recent court decisions. (Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp. and TLI Communications LLC v. A. V Automotive, LLC) These decisions and the memo will be informative on how the courts and the USPTO determine the subject matter eligibility, and may bring some clarity regarding the eligibility […]
While India has always been an innovative society, much of the intellectual property (IP) created remains unprotected both on account of lack of awareness and the perception that IP protection is either not required or that the process to obtain it is unnecessarily complicated. The rationale for the National IPR Policy lies in the need to create awareness about the […]
Patent wars that plagued the early years of the smartphone industry moved a big step closer to resolution on October 30, 2015, as Google and Microsoft reached a settlement to end some 20 patent lawsuits. In a joint statement, the two companies declared: “Microsoft and Google are pleased to announce an agreement on patent issues. As part of the agreement, the companies will dismiss […]
In a decision issued on September 22, 2015 Judge King ruled the copyright invalid, finding that though Summy Co. may have owned the copyright to “Good Morning to All,” it never had proper rights to the “Happy Birthday” lyrics. The “Happy Birthday” song dates to late 19th century work by a schoolteacher named Patty Smith Hill and her sister Mildred Hill The Hill sisters […]