7th July , 2011

‘Bhaag DK Bose’ song copyright issue settled

‘Bhaag DK Bose’, the popular song from Aamir Khan’s latest production `Delhi Belly’ being aired on radio and TV for the past two months had infringed copyrights of an artist duo inadvertently.

Mr. Jiten Thukral and Mr. Sumir Tagra, who have a registered copyright of the expression Bose DK, had approached the Delhi High Court just two days before the scheduled release of the film, claiming their share of credit but no monetary benefits. They had acquired a copyright for a series of paintings they had first released in their exhibition strangely titled Bosedkdesigns. com at Gallery Nature Morte in 2005.

Aamir Khan was not aware of the registered copyright till he was approached by the artists and now he has acknowledged that the phrase is their property and credit is due to them.

Samsung and Apple in dispute over smart phone patents

The legal battle between the two tech giants, Apple and Samsung continues with Apple seeking a preliminary injunction against Samsung on three Apple design patents, and one utility patent from a U.S. court. The iPhone and iPad maker also asked for a faster trial schedule to resolve all of its intellectual property claims against the South Korean company.

Since April this year both the companies were at loggerheads. Apple had sued Samsung in a California federal court alleging copying of its iPhone and iPad for Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets. The preliminary injunction, if granted, would affect Samsung’s products including the Galaxy S 4G smartphone and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer. Samsung then countersued in California claiming infringement of its five patents by Apple, and has approached the U.S. ITC to impose an import ban on Apple's iPhones, iPod and iPads.

Apple had been Samsung's second-biggest customer last year after Sony, accounting for about $5.7 billion of sales to Samsung through purchase of semiconductors. Samsung's Galaxy products use Google's Android operating system, which directly competes with Apple's mobile software.

Cipla gets US court order on pet product infringement

Cipla Ltd., an Indian pharma company has received an order from a US district Court, Middle District of Georgia that states that the sale of its animal healthcare product, 'Pet Armor Plus', infringes a patent held by Merial Limited.

Merial had filed a petition in the US District Court against Cipla alleging that the sales of PetArmor Plus infringed one of its U.S patents on Frontline Plus covering flea and tick control products. Future sales of Cipla’s ‘Pet Armor Plus’ have been suspended in the United States. The district court has stayed the above order for 60 days in order to allow Cipla to appeal, which is in the process of filing an appeal against the order and defend its ability to continue selling the animal healthcare product.

Frontline Plus is a topical flea-control product with a combination of fipronil and methoprene. PetArmor Plus is the first generic fipronil and S-methoprene product. Cipla has already sold PetArmor products worth $10 million.

Warner Music in Trademark battle over 'Diggers'

Warner Music Australia had intended to trademark the iconic military term 'Diggers' for a CD featuring Australian soldiers which would raise money for a military charity.

The Federal Government had objected the move while ex-servicemen had also opposed the two applications made by Warner Music, which was later withdrawn. There was public outrage stating that it was a special term for Australia’s soldiers and should not be trademarked. It is used in Australian military history to portray those who served in World War I.

The music project by “The Diggers” was an Australasian version of the UK’s ensemble called “The Soldiers”, which will now proceed without any protection. Australia has more than 60 trademark registrations relating to earthmoving, horticultural or other non-military uses, for the term.

Microsoft signs Android patent licensing deal with Wistron

Microsoft has announced the fourth patent-licensing deal in two weeks with another maker of Android hardware devices, Wistron Corp. It is the former contract manufacturing unit of Acer and is a supplier to manufacturers of Google’s new Chromebook computers.

The Taiwanese contract manufacturer, Wistron has agreed to pay royalties to Microsoft for its use of Google’s mobile operating system accepting Microsoft’s claims that Android violates the Redmond Company’s patents.

This agreement provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for Wistron's tablets, mobile phones, e-readers, and other consumer devices running the Android or Chrome platform. Patent protection for devices that run Google's Chrome operating system is also possible with this deal. Microsoft had inked patent-licensing deals with the three most important players in the trade: General Dynamics Itronix, Velocity Micro, and Onkyo Corp.

US FDA approval for Strides Polymyxin injection

Strides Arcolab, a Bangalore, India-based drug firm has received European and US FDA approval for two of its products. The US FDA stamp was given for antibacterial drug Polymyxin B injection used for the treatment of bacterial infections.

The drug maker is developing and supplying more than 25 injectable products for the USA market, which will be marketed by Sagent. The U.S. market for injectable Polymyxin B was $8 million.

The European approval was given to Onco Therapies Limited, a division of Agila (a wholly owned subsidiary of Strides Arcolab) for its oral dosage oncology facility in Bangalore.

Polymyxin B sulfate is an antibacterial drug used in the treatment of infections of the urinary tracts, meninges and bloodstream caused by strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Injectable Polymyxin B is expected to be launched in Q3 2011. Polymyxin is the third product approval for Sagent Strides LLC in 2011 and the eleventh approval under the Sagent-Strides partnership.