Intellectual Property Archives

Licensing of Software Does Not Give Rise to Patent Exhaustion

First Publication Date: 20th September 2010 The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit clarified the legal confusion that was existing on the application of the first sale doctrine or doctrine of patent exhaustion with respect to software licenses. The Court clarified that the exclusive distribution right is limited by the first sale doctrine, which is an affirmative defense to copyright infringement that allows owners of copies of copyrighted works to resell those copies. Further the Hon’ble…

December 4, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Copyrights, Intellectual Property, IP Commercialization/Licensing, Open Source Licensing 0Comment 1537Views 0Like

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Bilski’s Invention Falls, Business Methods Survive

First Publication Date: 29th June 2010 The much awaited Bilski decision has been pronounced by the US Supreme Court (Bilski v. Kappos). This closely watched and highly discussed case revolves around patentability of Bilski's hedging of risks business method invention. From the day when the patent examiner rejected Bilski's claims calling them 'mere manipulation of an abstract idea' the controversy has given rise to a lot of potent questions including the likes of patentability of software and business methods and restrictions…

December 3, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 877Views 0Like

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This image depicts a heard of cows. This post discusses the patents that have been filed for the composition of cow urine and its uses. Click on the image to read the full post.

Another Patent Granted Over Medicinal Value of Cow’s Urine

First Publication Date: 24th June 2010. A patent was granted to CSIR with respect to a composition useful for protecting and/or repairing DNA from oxidative damages. The value of cow's urine has been emphasized in ancient Indian texts including the rig veda. Cow's urine is known to not only have medicinal value but is also used to purify ayurvedic medicines. The patent granted to CSIR claims a composition for preventing and repairing damage to DNA due to oxidation. The patent…

December 1, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents, Traditional Knowledge 2Comments 1645Views 0Like

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Copyright Infringement: Bharat Law House vs. Wadhwa

First Publication Date: 13th June 2010 Supreme Court vacated Interim Application passed in favor of plaintiff and also allowed the IA in favor of defendants. This case is a hearing of interim application before Supreme Court while main suit was pending for trial. Case Facts Well-known authors Ratanlal and Dhirajlal wrote books on IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act, Torts, Law of Crimes and Bombay Criminal Cases. All these six books were assigned to the defendants by Mrs. Mary. Later, assignor and the defendants had a legal dispute which was…

November 30, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law 0Comment 1275Views 0Like

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IP in Everyday Life – Godrej Tribolt

First Publication Date: 27th May 2010 I noticed this Godrej Tribolt lock (which can be seen below) carrying prominent notices about the Intellectual Property related to it (seen below) The above notice is an example of a good patent notice, in that it complies with S.111(1) of the Indian Patent Act, 1970, which reads as In a suit for infringement of a patent, damages or an account of profits shall not be granted against the defendant who proves that at the date of the…

November 29, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 1034Views 0Like

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IP in Everyday Life – Aircraft Seat Belts

First Publication Date: 7th June 2010 Most of us fly frequently. But, we might not have paid attention to the most vital piece of safety equipment for a passenger; the seat belt. If you flip the receptacle portion of the belt, you will see a notice which states "Patent 5088160". The referred patent is assigned to Am-safe, Inc and was filed on February 5, 1990 (and has subsequently expired on February 5, 2010). The two independent claims are as follows: Claim 1: A webbing…

November 29, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 841Views 0Like

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Synthetic cell: Patent or No Patent?

First Publication Date: 27th May 2010. After reading today’s article titled “Patent-run for synthetic life form could be ‘damaging’, says Brit scientist” I thought I was having a Déjà vu. Looks like, once again, history repeats itself. Have you ever wondered as to why every time there is substantial progress in the field of Synthetic biology, we get mixed reactions? We are happy about the progress but when it comes to rewarding a patent to the inventors for the progress,…

November 28, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 738Views 0Like

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Natural or Man Made

This post was first published on April 4, 2010. This is in furtherance of Mrs. Vinita Radhakrishnan's post regarding the US District Court decision on BRCA gene patents. Under the US Patent Law, anything that exists in nature is not patentable subject matter. This is also referred to as 'Product of Nature Doctrine'. The test for determining whether something exists in nature or not as laid down in Chakrabarty's case is whether a hand of man is involved in creating…

November 27, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 787Views 0Like

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The Gene Returns to its Body

This post was first published on April 1, 2010. I’m still in denial of the summary judgment ruling provided by Judge Robert W. Sweet of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Association for Molecular Pathology v. USPTO on March 29th 2010. Looks like all that I read, understood and was convinced that gene patents demands a revisit. The 156 pages summary judgment that was issued on this Monday has for sure taken me by surprise.…

November 27, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 892Views 0Like

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Role of IP Policy in a Knowledge-Driven Company

This post was first published on March 26, 2010. An Intellectual Property (IP) Policy setting out the IP goals of a company in the light of its business goals plays a very important role in enabling the company to acquire competitive advantage from its IP. The IP Policy must lay down the framework in light of the company's IP strategy. Most IP policies cover aspects such as generation, protection, ownership, utilization, management, and commercialization of IP. They also include…