Intellectual Property

Pharmaceutical industry is one of the most intensively regulated sectors and as a result of these challenges, returns on R&D investments in the pharmaceutical industry have decreased. One feasible alternative to address these challenges is to adopt strategies to reduce development costs and maximize profit. One such strategy is Product Differentiation. Product Differentiation is innovating an existing product, i.e., creating a product with better features, performance, or efficacy. Most blockbuster drugs have gone off-patent, and more are expected to go off-patent in the near future. ...

Intellectual Property (IP) not only safeguards just ideas or concepts but protects genuine business assets that are integral to the core services of the business. Obtaining proper IP protection is critical and can make or break a business. The need to protect IP rights across borders has emerged as a significant issue....

The works of writers like Enid Blyton, George Eliot, Premchand, and Saki, have come to be embedded in our minds for generations, such as. We associate these names with canonical literature, but sometimes forget that these were not the authors’ real names. They were, in fact, pseudonyms, or pen names, adopted by their owners. The motivation for adopting a pseudonym for a creative work is not always clear, and can include a wish to create a separate identity from one’s real life persona. Whatever be the reason, the manner of protecting copyright in pseudonymous works is slightly different from that of a conventional copyright, which is the subject of this piece....

In response to the dramatic changes brought about in content sharing and broadcasting through technological advancements in the digital era, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Government of India (DPIIT) has proposed to amend the Copyright Rules. The draft rules are the latest in a long series of regulatory action taken by the government to address the entry of internet streaming services into the Indian market. ...

The Patent Rules, 2003 are proposed to be amended by Draft Rule 21 Sub-rule (2) and Sub-rule (3), Draft Rule 131 Sub-rule (2), and updated Form-27. Draft Rule 21 Sub-rule (2) reduces the high cost previously borne by applicants for the translation of priority documents. This Draft Rule restricts the requirement for submitting verified English translations of priority documents in accordance with Rule 51bis.1(e) of regulations under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). ...

Before applying for a company name in India, a stakeholder is required to ensure that the proposed name does not contain any word as prohibited under the Companies Act, 2013 (in Section 4(2) & (3)) read with the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014 (Rule 8). This Rule 8 has been recently amended by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India, by its notification of 10th May 2019, to clarify issues relating to undesirable and similar names of the companies. ...

In its latest proposed amendments to the Patent Rules, 2003, the government of India has proposed to overhaul the antiquated Form 27 (which seeks details of the commercial working of patents), among other procedural clarifications. ...

Patents are granted for inventions that are new, include an inventive step and are capable of industrial application. An element of human contribution and “inventiveness” are required for patentability. The body of scientific knowledge received by any generation is a combination of invention and discovery, but there is a fine line between the two, and the distinction is not always clear. In this note, we examine the patentability of discoveries in Europe, the United States, and India to understand this distinction in the context of “naturally occurring substances”. ...

The Literature Nobel Prize Winner, Jose Saramago, from Portugal, is reported to have said, “Writers make national literature, while translators make universal literature.” Truly, some of the greatest works in literature, both Indian and foreign, would have remained alien to us had it not been for translations. Anna Karenina, Don Quixote, Madame Bovary, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Raag Darbari, One Part Woman… these are just some examples. As the Indian literary market gets increasingly flooded with translations into English, and cross-translations across other Indian languages, interesting questions emerge for both publishers and authors. ...