First Publication Date: 7th December 2010
This is in furtherance of the post "Assessing patent risk in India".
Mitigation and management of patent risks assumes very high importance in the light of increasing patent enforcement in India. Risks from patents primarily come from infringement of patents of others. Some of the common strategies for risk mitigation are as follows:
a. Design around; b. Licensing; and c. Invalidation.
a. Design Around
Risks from a patent can be mitigated by designing around the claims of the…
First Publication Date: 2nd December 2010.
Since the Neanderthal age man has been on a perpetual quest to improve its living conditions which has made it possible for science to advance from one stage to another. Man is a curious being and to satisfy its insatiable curiosity it has constantly been on the lookout for new things.
The essential human journey has witnessed visionaries and inventors who have always been in a race with time which has resulted…
First Publication Date: 28th October 2010.
Misuse of traditional knowledge and measures to prevent the same have been attracting attention since the turmeric patent controversy. After successfully revoking turmeric patent claims that formed part of traditional knowledge, the Indian government has taken numerous initiatives ranging from legislative and policy changes to documentation and creation of a library of information (TKDL). With the press and media joining the effort, the awareness with respect to rights of traditional knowledge holders , actions…
First Publication Date: 7th October 2010
A patent grants the Patent holder exclusive rights to prevent others from making, using, selling, offering for sale in the territory of patent grant or importing an invention into the territory of patent grant. Once an unrestricted sale of the patented invention is made, the rights of the patent holder with respect to the product are exhausted and this is called as the Doctrine of Exhaustion or First Sale Doctrine. As per the Doctrine of…
First Publication Date: 5th October 2010.
Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, Kerala recently received a patent for their product, Musli Power Xtra, an Indian herbal aphrodisiac for men and women. Musli Power Xtra popularly known as the ‘Indian Herbal Viagra’ is reportedly India’s first ayurvedic herbal formulation to receive a patent for the treatment of sexual dysfunction.
The herbs and ingredients which form part of the formulation includes the following: Chlorophylum borivillianum (Safed Musli), Mucuna purita, Withania somnifera, Moringa oleifera, Embilica officinalis, Tribulus…
First Publication Date: 2nd October 2010
Introduction
The scope of patentable subject matter in USA can be considered to be the broadest in the world. The US patent system has been responding to new technologies faster than that of any other country. The US was the first to open its gates to patentability in fields such as Biotechnology, Information Technology or Business Methods. The adaptive and flexible nature of the patent regime can be attributed to the open language used under section…
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…
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…
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…
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…