Chandigarh to launch special start-up policy soon; 57 countries back India’s proposal for IP waiver on Covid-19 vaccine; Ms. Anjali S delivers a talk on Patent prosecution and Patent Opposition; Mr. Gaurav Mishra delivers talk on Patent infringement and defenses in Biotech research; Solas OLED and LG settle patent dispute; USPTO submits its position on AI inventorship to US District Court; CNIPA extends PPH program with Austria and Germany
Indian Patent News
Chandigarh to launch special start-up policy soon
The Chandigarh administration has announced that it intends to formulate a Startup Policy with special focus on women entrepreneurship soon. The new policy will focus on accommodating non IT Startups and expand the scope of incentivizing to private and institutional incubators, co-working spaces and startups.
57 countries back India’s proposal for IP waiver on Covid-19 vaccine
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, last week informed participants at the International Conference on Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Sector organized by FICCI that 57 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have supported a joint proposal by India and South Africa for “equitable access to medicines and other products”. The Minister in a tweet last week, urged world leaders to accept India’s proposal. The tweet read as follows: “World cannot continue to engage in endless discussions while millions of lives & livelihoods are lost. Intellectual Property waiver on Covid-19 medicine provides an opportunity to rejuvenate the world. Hope the world leaders join India in that effort.”
While the waiver proposal is currently under opposition from China, the European Union, the UK, the US Switzerland, Japan, and Australia, and others, the proposal has reportedly garnered a formidable support of around 90 countries. The final decision on the waiver will be taken by all member states of WTO at the General Council in March, 2021
BIP News
Ms. Anjali S delivers a talk on Patent prosecution and Patent Opposition
Ms. Anjali S, Senior Associate at BananaIP Counsels, Bangalore delivered a talk on Patent prosecution and Patent Opposition on the 16th of February to the faculty of Krupanidhi Group of institutions. The event was organized by the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology and CIPAM in association with the Krupanidi group of Institutions. The talk focused on helping the attendees understand the various nuances of patent prosecution and patent opposition.
Mr. Gaurav Mishra delivers talk on Patent infringement and defenses in Biotech research
Mr. Gaurav Mishra, Managing Associate and Attorney at BananaIP Counsels, Bangalore delivered a talk on Patent infringement and defenses in Biotech research on the 26th of February as part of a Faculty Development Program organized by The Oxford College of Engineering in association with the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology. The talk aimed at helping biotechnology researchers and faculty understand patent infringement and defenses available in India while also dealing with aspects such as Bolar Exemption and Bioequivalence.
Patent Infringement / Dispute/ Settlement & Patent Licensing News
Solas OLED and LG settle patent dispute
Solas OLED, the Irish OLED technology licensing company has announced that it has entered into a patent settlement and licensing agreement with LG Display. While the terms of the agreement are confidential, the agreement puts an end to all litigation between Solas and LG, including counter-actions, concerning Solas’ OLED technology in Germany, China and the United States.
Source: Businesswire
International Patent News
USPTO submits its position on AI inventorship to US District Court
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has submitted a summary motion at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia requesting the Court to uphold the PTO’s decision of rejection in the DABUS Case. For those unaware of the case, in 2019, a team at the University of Surrey in the UK filed patent applications in multiple jurisdictions listing an AI application, “Dabus”, as the sole inventor of a plastic food container and of a light beacon. The USPTO had rejected the application holding that Artificial Intelligence lacked legal personality and could not be treated as an inventor.
The EPO had also similarly rejected the application in Europe in December 2019, holding that the European Patent Convention (EPC) considers only human beings or ‘natural persons’ as inventors.
The USPTO’s key contention in the summary motion is that the suit should be dismissed because Dabus, as a machine, could not execute the necessary oath or declaration that the Patent Act requires of the inventor because it lacks the “legal personality” to do so.
CNIPA extends PPH program with Austria and Germany
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the Austrian Patent Office have jointly announced that the China-Austria Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project will be extended for another five years from March 1, 2021, until February 28, 2026. This decision comes after China and Germany decided to extend the PPH pilot between the two countries for a further three years from January 23, 2021, until January 22, 2024.
Authored & Compiled – Gaurav Mishra
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