GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION

GI STATUS FOR UDUPI GULLA SOON

The fabulous Udupi Matti Gulla would soon receive the Geographical Indication tag. Though there are many varieties of brinjal in India, this exceptional variety that grows in a small stretch between Udyavara River and Malpe in areas like Mattu, Udyavar and Kaipunjalu has a distinct aroma and texture.

Botanically referred to as Solanum melongena var. esculenta Nees, the colour of the brinjal vary from different shades of violet, pink, white or green and are elongated or round. Gulla found in the Udipi district of Karnataka is less astringent, round and green in colour and it has a thin skin which nearly gets dissolved on boiling. It has less number of seeds too.

GENERAL IPR

FICCI LAUNCHES IPR FACILITATION CENTRE IN DELHI

FICCI has launched an IPR Facilitation Centre at New Delhi, in association with the union Ministry of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).This centre aimed at increasing the competitiveness and growth of MSME industry would provide general counseling about IPRs, like, patents, trademarks, designs and copyrights and services related to patent searches, patent drafting, patent prosecution etc. The centre has a panel of legal and technical experts to provide support in this regard.

Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises contribute significantly to India's economic growth. 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and about 40 per cent of the total export of the country is taken care of by these MSMEs which are mostly unaware of the importance of IP protection. This FICCI-IPR facilitation centre would help the MSMEs in properly protecting and leveraging their intellectual resources.

NESTLE AND SARA LEE IN COFFEE WAR

The Swiss food giant Nestlé and Sara Lee an American food group are clashing over the Nespresso. Nestle has enjoyed worldwide monopoly on the lucrative espresso pods that fit its coffee-making machines.

Nespresso has accused its rivals of making cheaper copycat pods thus violating the intellectual property it created to make a convenient homemade cup of coffee. Nespresso's competitors had recently made an effort to market their coffee pods and venture into Europe and the United States. They accuse Nestlé of trying to prevent them from entering one of the fastest-growing sectors of the market: pods now account for 20 to 40 percent of the value of ground coffee sales in the $17 billion European coffee market.

Since 2000, when Nespresso was launched, the company has sold more than 20 billion capsules through its boutiques. The price of its machines starts around $190 and rise beyond $2,500. Nestlé owns around 1,700 patents on its personal espresso system, many of which are set to expire in 2012.

Sara Lee has recently launched its own plastic perforated version of the capsule, the L'Or, priced at 37 cents in French supermarkets and has sold 30 million capsules so far. The company also has a low-cost version of a espresso machine, the Senseo, which is a top seller in the American market. About 27 million Senseo machines were sold in the last decade, compared to about eight million Nespresso machines.

PATENT

MAHINDRA SATYAM WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST UK`S UPAID

Mahindra Satyam,a Hyderabad-based IT firm has won a lawsuit filed by Upaid in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against deduction of income tax on the amount to be paid by the Indian IT major for the settlement of a patent dispute. The Court rejected Upaid`s plea seeking settlement amount of USD 70 million from Mahindra Satyam.

The court has declared that the settlement agreement requires that Upaid co-operate with the escrow agent, IDBI Bank, to allow the agent to withhold any applicable taxes from the USD 70 million settlement amounts. Upaid will pay around $38.5 million, which is 55 per cent of the settlement amount.

Mahindra Satyam had settled a US lawsuit filed by Updaid seeking damages from Satyam for forging its patent application documents in December 2009, with Satyam approving to pay $70 million for the deal. But both the companies fought over who will pay income tax on the settlement amount. Satyam maintained that Upaid has to pay the tax as the settlement amount is an income to the firm as per the Indian law.

Satyam Enterprise Solutions, a subsidiary of Satyam Computer Services Ltd, had developed software for Upaid, which wanted to patent the technology and sought consent of 20 Satyam employees, who worked on the project. Satyam had helped Upaid get the signatures, some of which were forged, resulting in Upaid losing its patents infringement case against telecom companies Qualcomm and Verizon.
The Mahindra group took over scam-hit Satyam in a government bailout last year and was branded Mahindra Satyam.

AMAZON PATENTS LOCATION-BASED MOBILE SEARCH TECHNOLOGY

Amazon.com has received two patents, one related to providing location-based search information for mobile devices and the other patent granted was for "Providing location-based auto-complete functionality."

The patents filed in June-July last year are assigned to A9.com, Amazon's internet search unit based in Palo Alto.

Amazon had received a patent for a "System and method for providing search results based on location" in July 2009.

ADVAXIS PATENTS CANCER FIGHTING TECHNOLOGY

Advaxis, a biotechnology company specializing in developing vaccines to fight cancer using the Listeria bacterium, has been granted a patent which will protect its Listeria vaccine technology.

The issued patent would also protect three engineered strains of Listeria that have been developed for use as human vaccine vectors. Advaxis technnology is based on the ability of antigen-adjuvant combination proteins to stimulate an immune response against cancer and infectious disease, when it is produced and secreted by live Listeria.

Listeria is a gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria commonly found in soil, stream water, sewage and food. This bacterium is responsible for listeriosis, a lethal food-borne infection.

Advaxis is currently using its Listeria technology to develop two novel vaccines for prostate cancer and another for various types of cancers including breast and brain cancer. Advaxis now has a total of 28 patents in its portfolio with 44 pending applications.