14th August , 2011

Amendments in Indian Copyright Bill accepted by Cabinet

The Union Cabinet of India, the decision-making body of the Government of India has approved the changes to proposed Copyright (Amendment) Bill. Recommendations by the Parliamentary Standing Committee to delete a clause in the Copyright Bill, which allowed the film director to claim copyright over the film, along with the producer and the author were earlier accepted by the HRD ministry.
This revision implies that the royalty will have to be shared on an equal basis, with the author or their legal heirs or a copy right society for collection and distribution. From now onwards the lyricists and composers will not assign their right to receive royalties to the assignee of copyright, usually the producer, for the use of their material in media other than films or music recordings.

Another recommendation of the standing committee to allow access of material protected under copyright free of cost to disabled persons was also accepted by the union cabinet.

Hindustan Unilever loses trademark case for Sunlight brand

Unilever’s Indian associate Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has lost a trademark case against a Kerala-based soap maker - Thai Group, for a 127-year-old soap called Sunlight. Launched in India in 1888, Sunlight was the first packaged and branded soap to be launched in the world in 1884.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd had accused the Thai Group, the parent company of Ashique Chemicals and Aghin Chemicals, which produce and market detergent brand SunPlus, of infringing its Sunlight brand a year ago. HUL claimed that Sun, Sunlight and Sunsilk are its registered trademarks, which were infringed by Ashique and Aghi. The Bombay High Court last week dismissed HUL's interim application on the basis that the company had not used its registered mark for detergent Sun since it s registration 60 years ago.

Sunlight has a strong in Kerala and West Bengal though not much popular in the rest of India.

Apple granted patents for visual voicemail and touch screen technologies

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has issued a set of 21 patents to the iPhone maker Apple Inc. for a series of inventions which include technologies related to the iPhone's visual voicemail feature and an integrated touch screen.

The visual voicemail patent describes a method for managing voicemail messages on a touch screen display that allows users to scrub through messages using touch input. Apple in its filing has depicted push-button voicemail interfaces as unmanageable and inefficient and portrayed the visual voicemail as more transparent, spontaneous and efficient.

Apple Inc.’s CEO Steve Jobs and Senior Vice President Scott Forstall are included in the list of inventors of the patent which was filed on June 28, 2007, a day before the launch of its first iPhone.

Integrated touch screen technology integrates touch sensing circuitry into the display pixel stack up of a display. According to Apple this method can make the display thinner, brighter and requires less power, while requiring fewer parts and/or processing steps. Shih Chang Chang is listed as the inventor for the patent which was filed on September 11, 2009.

Final hearing in Novartis’ Glivec case begins

The hearing for the final appeal by Novartis which has sought an extension of a patent on Glivec, a cancer drug has been initiated in the Supreme Court of India. The Swiss pharmaceutical company had challenged the manner in which Section 3(d) of India's Patents Act is implemented and filed the case in 2009 in the Supreme Court against the understanding of the term efficacy, by the Madras High Court and Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB).

Under Section 3(d), patents will not be granted for new uses or new forms of existing drugs. A few new forms of existing medicines may get patents if the company proves a significant increase in the efficacy of that entity. Novartis asserts that its drug has 30% increased efficacy and therefore its patent on the drug should be considered. Glivec is a β-crystalline form of an earlier drug molecule, Imatinib Myselate, which was patented by Novartis in 1993.

This patent on β-crystalline form was rejected by the Chennai Patent Office in January 2006, after Cipla , the Cancer Patients Aid Association, Hetro Drugs, Natco and Ranbaxy had filed their pre-grant opposition. The company then challenged the validity of section 3d at Madras High Court which also rejected the case in August 2007. The case was then heard by the IPAB, which also rejected this case in July 2009.

Glivec is a vital anti-cancer drug sold by Novartis in India for Rs.120,000 (US$ 2,400) per patient per month. Indian generic companies sell their version for Rs.8 – 10,000 (US$ 160 – 200) per patient per month.

At present it’s a wait and watch situation for all concerned till the esteemed court gives its final verdict.

GI protection for 190 products sought by EU

The European Union (EU) has sought geographical indication (GI) protection for 190 products in India. Italy, France and Germany are among the leading applicants.

The applications for GI from the EU member-countries are mostly in the class of beverages such as beer and wine brands, processed meat and milk products, various bakery items, including biscuits and pastries.

This effort on behalf of the EU suggests the expectation of an enormous opening for marketing of the above mentioned products mainly in agricultural produce, once the GI status is acquired. The total number of GI grants in India so far is less than that of the number of application from the EU member-countries.

The office of the registrar of GIs has registered a total of 153 GIs between 2003 and 2011. These products are mostly in the handicraft or agriculture category. Only four foreign entities have been registered as GIs in India. They are Scotch Whiskey, Napa Valley, Champagne and Peruvian Pisco.

Czech Republic Accused of Infringing ‘Czech Point’ Trademark

Now a country’s administration is in a trademark dispute. The Czech Republic has been accused of infringing a trademark belonging to a real estate company - the Czech Point 101.

The real estate company registered the term “Czech Point” in the Czech Republic in 2006, a year before the government registered a similar mark. The Czech government uses the mark for all official procedures in its administration system.

The Office for the Harmonization for the Internal Market, which registered trademarks on the European Union level, has refused to register “‘Czech Point” for the government.