Ek Tha Tiger in Copyright Tussle

Salman Khan's recent block buster film Ek Tha Tiger is now engaged in copyright battle with script writer Anand Pande. Anand Pande accuses that story of the movie Ek Tha Tiger is a copy of his original work titled "Ghost War" .

He submits that he has shown his work to Yash Raj Films, producers of Ek tha tiger who after rejecting the story has incorporated the same into their new hit movie.

Following his complaint Bombay High court Division bench of Justice A S Oka and Sadhana Jadhav has directed the police to conduct a probe into the complaint and submit their report before 7th November.

Anand has also registered a complaint with the Writers Association. Ek tha Tiger is an Indian romantic action thriller film which has accounted a total gross profit of Rs 300 crore.

source

"Man of Steel " stays with DC comics

DC Comics, famous comic book publishers would retain their rights to "Superman comic" after a Judge ruled that the heir's of one of the Super hero's co creators signed away their ability to reclaim copyrights 20 years ago.
Super man - the Man of steel, was introduced by Shuster and Jerry Sigel as a comic book series in 1938 and since then have been entertaining reader irrespective of age.
DC Comics sued the heirs of artist Joe Shuster in 2010, seeking a ruling that they are not entitled to reclaim Superman's copyrights, stating that Shuster's sister and brother have relinquished their right to reclaim copyrights in 1992 in exchange for annual pension payments from DC Comics.
The ruling means that DC comics and its owner Warner Bothers can retain all rights to continue using the character in books, films, television and other mediums. This is particularly relevant as new superman film "Man of Steel" is to be screened in 2013 

Source:  www.hollywoodrepoter.com  

DC Books Win Copyrights Over Superman

After SRK, it is the turn of Mr. Khiladi

Few days back, we got the news that Shahrukh Khan is all set to get the name SRK registered at the Trademark Registry. In somewhat we may refer to as following the suit, Akshay Kumar is heard to be making efforts to get the name 'Khiladi' registered at the Trademark Registry. 

He has been acted in seven Khiladi movies since 1992. Also, he is awaiting his eighth outing with the upcoming Khiladi 786. He is set to take his association with the successful franchise a step forward. 

“Khiladi has become a brand that Akshay is associated with. And Akshay is very emotional about it. That’s why he has decided to apply for a trademark,” says an insider. He further adds that “The idea is to bar its usage for commercial purposes, including films, TV, advertisements and other industries".

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WIPO members to meet for discussing text on Treaty for visually impaired

WIPO members are gathering this week to advance work on a draft treaty on exceptions to copyright for visually impaired readers.An inter-sessional meeting on limitations and exceptions for visually impaired persons and persons with print disabilities is taking place from 17-19 October.

Delegates are working on a revised working document  issued on 26 July, at the 24th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights 

Among the issues to discuss includes definition of accessible format copy, and of authorized entities, which refers to entities that address the needs of visually impaired persons including providing those persons with services relating to education, and information accessWorking Document for Vissually Impaired

Update: New Text on visually impaired treaty 

 After three days of discussion on treaty for visually impaired WIPO member yesterday closed their discussion after bring out another draft version of the text. 

New text have agreement on what should be the meaning of accessible format however points of disagreement remains as to nature and scope of obligations

Revised WIPO Vissually Impaired Treaty

Chinese writers sue Apple for copyright infringement

Apple is all over news again after a group of Chinese writers filed a copyright infringement against them in Beijing for unauthorizedly selling electronic version of their book  via App store.

Writers demanded a compensation of 1.6 million USD for violating their copyrights 34 different works. writers allege that the applications involved unlicensed electronic version of their book which have been heavily downloaded, causing huge economic loses to them while bringing profits to Apple as well as the application developers.

Apple however took the plea that they are a not the proper party to the suit and appealed for application developer to stand for the trial. 

Earlier same court have order Apple to pay 8270.30 USD as compensation for economic losses suffered by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House for copyright infringements

From SRK to SRK (Regd.) - Don's new move?

It doesn't matter whether Amitabh Bachhan has not applied for the trademark protection of his nickname Big B. But Shahrukh Khan has recently, sent an application to the Trade Mark Registry that his often-used initials not be used without his permission. 

According to the reports by The TOI, the actor has recently applied for a trademark on his name SRK at the Delhi office of the Trade Mark Registry. He awaits the final confirmation on it. According to the rules, once his trademark SRK is published in the Indian Trademark Journal, anybody who has an objection can file a notice within three months.

This is not the first time of such applucation in India. Earlier this year, Sachin Tendulkar had applied for the same, to trademark his name SRT. In fact, when Vidhu Vinod Chopra needed to use the cricketer's name in his film Ferrarri Ki Sawaari, he had to seek Sachin's permission.

This trend is being followed from the West, where getting a trademark on one's name isn't uncommon. In fact, Roger Federer, Michael Jordon and Jennifer Lopez are among some of the names that have been trademarked in the past.
 
Such a move by the actor will bar several industries from using his name. For example, tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, water and even other non-alcoholic drinks can't use the actor's name. The same goes for fresh fruits, vegetables, salt, mustard so on and so forth.

EBC restrained from publishing its own injunction

Earlier we have reported about an injunction granted by the Lucknow District  against Westlaw India and Indlaw from infringing the copyrights of Eastern Book Company in their case reports "Supreme Court Cases". Report available here.

Now in an interesting move Legally India reports that the  Lucknow District court through another injunction restrained EBC from publicizing that they have been granted an injunction by the same court for alleged plagiarism.

Order: (translation available with Legally India). 

Copyright for Palance fabric design granted to Culp

As per the announcement made recently, by Culp Inc., the United States Copyright Office has granted copyright protection for Culp’s Palance fabric design. The effective date of Culp’s copyright registration is August 8, 2011.

 

Culp is the market leader for fabrics that encompass the essence of natural leather without actually being leather. Like many designs before it, the design, format, layout and shading used in the Palance fabric design combine to create a one-of-a-kind design unique to Culp. Culp is the owner of copyright rights in other popular fabric designs as well, including its Palomino, Wrangler, Stampede, Congo, and Gunslinger fabrics, all of which are protected by copyright registrations.

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Mc Donald filed for coffee trademark

McDonald's Corp. has filed a trademark using its name for ground and whole-bean coffee.  McDonald's Corp has filed for the trademark McCafe Indicating intention of burger giants to enter into retail markets.

The registration was made last month, and The Wall Street Journal says it signals the quintessential American fast food chain could be considering selling packaged coffee in grocery stores, emulating some of its competitors.

MC Donald filed for Mc Cafe trademark for coffe

India follows International Exhaustion - Delhi HC

In a most recent and landmark judgment on the issue of "exhaustion principle" in Indian trademark law, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court has held that Indian trademark law follows an “international exhaustion” regime. 

The Bench comprising of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Siddharth Mridul partially allowed the appeal filed by Kapil Wadhwa and others (Appellants) against the judgment of Single Judge Justice Manmohan Singh in Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. & Anr. v. Kapil Wadhwa & Ors., wherein the Single Judge had held the Appellants guilty of trademark infringement and had ruled that trademark law prohibits the sale of imported genuine products without the authorization of the registered proprietor in India.

 

The appeal was partially allowed by the Division Bench, thereby setting aside the judgment dated February 17, 2012 insofar as the Appellants had been restrained from importing printers, ink cartridges/toners bearing the trade mark Samsung/SAMSUNG and selling the same in India. However, the Appellants have still been injuncted from meta-tagging their website to that of Samsung. 

 

Way back in the single bench judgment of this case, Samsung Electronics Co. and its Indian subsidiary Samsung India had initially filed a suit claiming that the Appellants were selling genuine and unaltered Samsung printers imported directly from foreign markets into India without due authorization.  The Single Judge had held that the Appellants were guilty of trademark violation. It was against this judgment, the Appellants had filed an appeal.

 

Samsung was reprsented by Pravin Anand of Anand & Anand while the Kapil Wadhwa and others were represented Saikrishna Rajagopal on instructions from Shwetasree Majumdar of Fidus Law Chambers.

 

The Court observed that the single judge adopted an “erroneous approach” to conclude that unless goods are imported into India by the consent of the registered proprietor of a trade mark “the act of importation is not permitted” as per sub Section 3 of Section 30 (of the Trademarks Act), which provision provides for “acquisition by consent for the purposes of import”. In the appeal, the Court recognized the the principle of international exhaustion under the Trademarks Act, 1999 and observed that the same was clear from the fact that the term ‘in any geographical area’, in the Statement of Objects and Reasons to the Trade Mark Bill 1999 “clearly envisaged that the legislative intent was to recognize the principle of international exhaustion of rights to control further sale of goods once they were put on the market by the registered proprietor of the trade mark”. 

News Link 

Copy of the Judgment

Youtube to manually review some claims

Google-owned YouTube is set to alter its algorithms to reduce invalid copyright infringement claims on its video-sharing site and soon it will begin manually reviewing some claims instead of the system automatically blocking disputed footage.

One month before, the First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention was wrongly flagged by algorithms just after it aired. YouTube, the official streaming partner of the Democratic National Convention, had automatically put a copyright blocking message on the live-stream video of the event shortly after it ended.

Thabet Alfishawi, the rights management product manager for YouTube, addressing the issue of false positives and outright abuse of the system, said, “We’ve improved the algorithms that identify potentially invalid claims. We stop these claims from automatically affecting user videos and place them in a queue to be manually reviewed.”

The procedure till now.

Five years ago YouTube adopted a filtering system, which enabled rights holders to upload music and videos they own to a “fingerprinting” database. When YouTube account holders upload their videos, the algorithm known as Content ID scans new uploads against the copyright database for matches.If a full or partial match is detected, the alleged rights holder can have the video automatically removed, or it can place advertising on the video and make money every time somebody clicks on the video.

But if Content ID over-matches or a unauthorized person manages to feed the filter content it doesn’t own, a YouTube user could see her video hijacked through a false copyright claim because Content ID had largely functioned on auto-pilot.

The new rules that were announced yesterday, require the alleged rights holder to abandon the claim or file an official take-down notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, if the uploader challenges the match. 

“Prior to today, if a content owner rejected that dispute, the user was left with no recourse for certain types of Content ID claims (e.g., monetize claims). Based upon feedback from our community, today we’re introducing an appeals process that gives eligible users a new choice when dealing with a rejected dispute,” Alfishawi said. “When the user files an appeal, a content owner has two options: release the claim or file a formal DMCA notification.”

News Link 

Motorola drops one ITC Patent case against Apple

Motorola Mobility, the unit of Google Inc. (GOOG)’s has become ready to to withdraw a patent-infringement complaint it filed in August against Apple Inc. (AAPL) at the U.S. International Trade Commission. However, it did not come with any reason for such step.

Motorola Mobility reserves the right to refile claims against the AAP, and it denied the existence of any agreement between the two companies, according to filing on the ITC’s electronic docket. Also, a notice of dismissal was filed in a companion civil lawsuit filed in a federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.

California based Apple, and Illinois based Motorola Mobility, have been fighting about smartphone-related patents since around 2010 after licensing talks failed. Apple is claiming that Motorola Mobility violated obligations to license some of its patents on fair terms. A non-jury trial on the same issue is scheduled to begin in the first week of November this year, in a federal court in Madison, Wisconsin. 

In the case that has been withdrawn, Apple was accused of infringing seven Motorola Mobility patents on features including interactive voice commands, location reminders, e-mail notification and phone/video players. Motorola Mobility said that it hoped the filing of the suit in August and the threat against Apple’s iPhone would push the two sides into settlement talks.  

In the order passed yesterday by the ITC Judge Thomas Pender said that he will make a decision by Dec. 21 on that issue. 

News Link

MSF Launches patent opposition database

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has today launched an opposition database intended to enable activists to share information and experiences about opposing patents using a single central portal. 

The database comes as many developing countries face dramatically high drug prices because of blocking of lower cost generic drugs due to patents. Database is intended to help civil society to mount patent oppositions.

Currently database contains a searchable listing of 45 patent oppositions related to essential medicines and more than 200 other supporting documents that will aid in the building of  a future patent opposition. Database calls for contribution of details of any patent opposition, application, office decision, prior art etch related to essential medicines. 

Database according to MSF is a took which can be used to explore how to challenge unfair patents and their negative impacts on access to medicines.

The database was launched on the tenth anniversary of a landmark decision by the Central Intellectual Property Court in Thailand to overturn a patent on a key HIV drug based on an opposition filed by patient groups. It is part of MSF's Nobel prize winning Access to Medicine campaign.

Database can be accessed at http://patentoppositions.org

Samsung fights back

In a move which may give Samsung Electronics, a much needed relief, Samsung  on Tuesday  filed a new lawsuit against Apple in a US court, contending the iPhone 5 has infringed on Samsung's patents. In a statement, Samsung said: "we have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights."

In another major relief for Samsung on Tuesday, a US court removed a sales ban against Samsung Electronics's Galaxy Tab 10.1 won by Apple Inc in a patent dispute, allowing the South Korean electronics maker to sell the product in the United States.

Injunction had been put in place ahead of a month-long trial that pitted iPhone maker Apple against Samsung in a closely watched legal battle that ended with a resounding victory for Apple on many of its patent violation claims. 

However,  jury found that Samsung had not violated patents that was the basis for the tablet injunction and Samsung argued the sales ban should be lifted. Will Samsung be able to gain some ground, or will it bite the dust for patents infringement? We shall have to wait and watch.

New IP Protection law in Panama to impose hefty fine

Panamanian legislators on Wednesday night passed a new Intellectual Property  Protection Law, which would allow commerce officials to impose fines of up to $100,000 for copyright infringements without a trial or civil suit.   

There is a U.S.-Panama free trade agreement which was  approved last  year and this piece of  legislation is meant to bring Panama into compliance with the trade agreement. The legislation has yet to get the Presidential assent. 

As always, some civic groups and organizations representing audio-visual artists and musicians are criticizing the measure, saying it threatens free speech. 

Other artists support the law, hoping it will cut down on pirated versions of their works. Will this legislation prove to be a boon to the artists who support  it, only time will tell.

Infosys way ahead of peers in patents

Infosys, India's second largest software exporter leads in the number of patents filed by Indian  IT companies. According to the data compiled by an equity research firm Barclays, the Indian IT giant has filed 159 USPTO in last five years.

Globally only firm which competes with Infosys is Acceture which filed 345 patents in the last five years.  In India Infy is followed by Tata Consultancy Services Ltd with 43 applications and Wipro with 8 and HCL stands the least among country's top tier IT firms with 4 applications.

In order to maintain uniformity Barclays have confined  their research to USPTO . They have also confirmed that Infy has filed 354 patents globally in different jurisdictions during the last five years.

Infosys is one of the few IT companies that spent money heavily on Research & Development. Reports says that during last three years company has spent 2.1% of its revenue on R&D which is best in the industry.

Source: Business standard

Just in Bollywood Style: Barfi!

“I am very proud to say Barfi is a completely original story. It’s very difficult to make original cinema and I take a lot of pride in saying Barfi is original. It baffles me why people are not appreciating the original plot, screenplay, characters and situations.” 

These were the words of the director of the Bollywood masterpiece Barfi!, Anurag Basu, after he faced a recent allegation of plagiarism post success of Barfi!.

Further, he said:

"Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino have done the same. Does that make them a thief? Great moments of cinema that you’ve watched through the years, stay in your mind and they come out in your work. It doesn’t mean you’re copying anyone. Thank God The Artiste was not made by an Indian. If it had, it would have never gone to the Oscars.”

The Controversy. 

Since its release two weeks ago, several videos have spread through YouTube and social media sites highlighting a number of scenes that appear to draw heavily from international classics. 

Some scenes from the movie show stark resemblances with clips from Gene Kelly's hit " Singin' in the Rain" (1952), Jackie Chan's " Project A" (1983), Buster Keaton's " Cops" (1922) and " The Notebook" (2004) starring Ryan Gosling among others.

The plot has been likened to "Benny & Joon", the 1993 film starring Johnny Depp, while the soundtrack has drawn further comparisons with the musical score from "Amelie", the 2001 hit starring Audrey Tautou.

One of the clearest sources of inspiration is Charlie Chaplin: one scene shows Barfi dodging a policeman through a sliding door, just as the king of silent film did in 1917's "The Adventurer".

News from HT 

News from TOI 

Garcia registers copyright for “Innocence of Muslims”

After making an unsuccessful attempt of last week to convince a California state judge to order YouTube to remove the movie trailer, Cindy Lee Garcia, the actress in the anti-Muslim film “Innocence of Muslims” refiled her case in federal court on Wednesday. In the Wednesday's filing, Garcia added copyright claims to her suit of unfair business practices, fraud and slander.

She also demands the YouTube to take down the 14-minute trailer for the film. According to her pleadings in the suit, it is stipulated that YouTube cannot couch itself in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act because the company did not remove the video, even though the copyright owner, Garcia, demanded such removal. She’s also suing the hundreds of people who have reposted the video on YouTube.

A representative for YouTube didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

This is a strange case, wherein, someone is trying to prove that by acting in a film and “authoring” a performance, she is entitled to a slice of the copyright. Typically, actors do not bring forth this type of lawsuit because, especially in Hollywood, they sign release forms before working. Such an agreement grants producers various rights. 

Some of those rights include freedom from libel claims. Such rights disallow actors from attempting to halt both the distribution and presentation of a film.

Garcia’s lawyer, says that the only thing her client signed was a document that would authorize Garcia’s participation in the film on the Internet Movie Database, a film content site. 

Prior to re-filing the lawsuit, Armenta registered Garcia’s performance at the U.S. Copyright Office. In her registration, Garcia noted that she delivered “a dramatic performance and it was fixed to film,” versus a work specifically made to hire, and thus she became a copyright holder. 

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Amazon urges the US court to remove charges of false advertising

In a filing yesterday before a US court, Amazon asked the judge to remove an allegation of false advertising imposed by Apple last year. Last year, Apple launched legal action against the Amazon Appstore for Android, alleging that the it is a trademark violation of Apple's App Store. Apple had also also alleged that Amazon's use of the word Appstore in marketing material is false advertising.

Apple's App Store provides iPhones, iPads and iPods powered by Apple's iOS operating system and a huge range of software for the reassuringly expensive gear. On the other hand, Amazon's Appstore solicits programs for its Kindle tablets and other manufacturers' devices powered by Google's Android system.

Amazon asked the judge to throw out the false advertising allegation, claiming that it had no proper place in a trademark suit, and that "app store" is a generic term.

A hearing on Amazon's motion is due at the end of October. 

News Source 

Beijing to give IPR protection to brands

For long China has been the hotspot for creating fakes of many international brands.  But that is set to change. Dongcheng District of Beijing will enhance IPR protection in Wangfujing Shopping Street to protect brands by governmental service and supervision. 

Nowadays, 53 out of the top 100 world famous brands have set up stores in Dongcheng District, particularly Wangfujing Shopping Street where local and international brands converge. 

“By governmental service and supervision, on the one hand, the district will provide overall protection for these brands, on the other hand, Dongcheng District will create enabling environment for the development of these brands in the district and Wangfujing Shopping Street,” said a principal from Dongcheng District.

It is a welcome move on the part of Chinese  government. This move will restore the faith of many international brands in China.

Contributed by: Abhishek 

Source 

No to GM foods!!

Parliamentary Standing committee on Agriculture has laid before RajyaSabha its report titled " Cultivation of Genetically modified foods crops: prospects and effects".

The panel has strongly rejected use of GM crops in India and even considered that currently using BT cotton as a failure. The 506 page exhaustive report was completed in two and half years with panelists travelling across the nation consulting various stake holders including farmers, trade union representatives, relevant departments in State and Union Government as well as members of civil society and NGO's .

Basudeb Acharya, chairman of the committee said that the committee has come to a come to the conclusion that the concerns raised against GM Crops as to impact to environment, people, farming and health turns out to be true.

The report  denies granting of any exclusive monopoly rights in the form of patents and states that performance of private sector in this area is pathetic and need public interference.Report in several area raises concern as to applicability of patent laws in relation to GM foods

Report Parlimentary Standing Committee on Agriculture Gmcrops 2012

Trademark for music icon refused to Apple

In a setback to Apple, it lost an appeal to protect its famous music icon after trademark judges ruled that consumers were likely to confuse it with a mark now owned by MySpace. 

On Tuesday, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) upheld an examiner’s decision to refuse Apple trademark protection for the famous orange music mark that appears on iPhones and computer screens. It refused on the grounds that it was too similar to another mark:

 According to sources, the mark on the right was issued in 2008 to a music service called iLike which let users download and share music. In 2009, MySpace obtained iLike and shuttered it earlier this year. 

Refusing the contentions of the Applicant, the Board performed a “likelihood of confusion” analysis to conclude that an average consumer would muddle the marks:

"In view of the facts that the marks are similar, the goods and services are related and are encountered by the same classes of consumers, we find that applicant’s double musical note and design for “computer software [..]” is likely to cause confusion with the registered mark comprising a double musical note and design [..] for listening to MP3’s and for sharing MP3’s and music playlists with others".

However, Apple can still appeal against this decision to a federal district court. 

News Link

Judgment Copy

Michigan Singalong faces copyright issues

The producers and sponsors of the “The Pure Michigan Statewide Singalong” are facing the copyright infringement allegations from the creators of the platinum hit song “Good Time” on which it is based. However, they say that they hope to resolve a copyright dispute with the creators.

On Friday, a copyright claim from Songs Music Publishing led YouTube to take down the popular video of a statewide sing-along shot for Michigan’s tourism promotion agency. The song was intended to promote travel in the state.

The video of the singlong was produced by Jeff Barrett and Rob Bliss of Grand Rapids-based Status Creative. It uses the melody and adapts the lyrics of “Good Time,” written by Brian Lee and Matthew Thiessen. 

Mr. David Lorenz, the spokesman for Pure Michigan, (the nonprofit agency that promotes travel in the state) said he hopes talks between the producers and copyright holders will let Pure Michigan post the video again.
Source 

Just in Bollywood Style: Jodi Breakers

The iP aroUnd, from today has started a string of posts for movies' lovers- Just in Bollywood Style.

Just in Bollywood Style is the name given to posts that will reveal the Bollywood movies which are or were under scanner for being alleged as a direct-lift or facelift of some other original movie. 

The first post begins today with the movie Jodi Breakers. The movie was allegedly the copy of the year 2010 French film 'Heartbreakers'. 

According to the sources, the French producers have filed the case against five people - the producer, Prasar Visions Pvt Ltd, director Ashwini Chaudhary, the writer, the processing lab and Dariwala who claimed that the producers stole her idea. The first hearing took place on February 10 and today is the second hearing." 

The makers of Jodi Breakers had offered to let the Heartbreakers team read the entire script, provided they agree to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA), which the Heartbreakers team declined to sign.

News Link

IIPA demands changes under Canadian Copyright law

After a huge tussle over reforms under the Canadian copyright law, in June 2012, the debate came to an end when the Bill C-11 received royal assent. But, in a strange scene that appeared, despite the bill, being labelled as a “vital building block,” the copyright lobby that pressured the government to impose restrictive rules on digital locks and tougher penalties for copyright infringement, is already demanding further reforms that include rolling back many key aspects of the original bill.

This time, the manner of securing reforms is quite different from that of the last round of copyright reform, wherein national consultations and open committee hearings were adopted by the lobby groups. But this time, they are hoping to use secretive trade negotiations to forge legislative change. The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), an umbrella organization that represents movie, music, and software associations, will urge the U.S. government to put some pressure on Canada to enact further reforms as part of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.

Recently, the IIPA submitted its position on Canada’s entry to the TPP as part of a U.S. regulatory process. It takes the concern of the role of Internet providers in enforcing Canadian copyright law. The Canada follows the “notice-and-notice” approach, which requires providers to forward thousands of infringement allegation notices to their subscribers. It strikes a balance between effective enforcement and free speech, while preserving users’ privacy. This approach has attracted a global attention, with the countries like Chile adopting it under its domestic law. Despite this, the approach has been criticized by the IIPA, thereby calling for dramatic reforms. It argues that Canadian law “fails to provide meaningful incentives for network service providers to co-operate with copyright owners to deal with copyright infringements that take place in the digital network environment.” 

The copyright lobby demands Canada to implement measures that would require Internet providers “to take action to prevent recidivists from repeatedly using their services to commit copyright infringement.” In other words: a termination system that would cut off Internet access for subscribers accused of infringement.

Further, the IIPA also wants Canada to revert the statutory damages changes from Bill C-11, through which, it created a liability cap of $5,000 for non-commercial infringement. It claims that the non-commercial cap renders statutory damages “ineffective in achieving its goals of full compensation and deterrence in the online environment.”

Bayer's petition against NACTO Compulsory license dismissed

In a yet another historic legal battle Intellectual Property Appellate Broad has dismissed Bayer's request for a stay order against last year grant of compulsory license by the patent controller to Natco.

The compulsory license issued by patent controller earlier last march allowed Natco to make and sell the generic version of  Multinational pharmaceutical company Bayer's patented drug Nexavar - used for treating liver and kidney cancer, after paying 6% royalty .

As Economic Times reports that, Justice Prabha Sreedevi of IPAB rejected Bayer's petition on the ground that the company did not even make a prima facie for grant of a stay against the order. She considered that a stay to the order will hamper the interests of the public as the company even admits that the drug is intended to improve the quality of life of patients in the later stages of disease.

Bayer was selling the said drug in Indian market for Rs 28,000 for a month's dose while Nacto's version offered to sell them at Rs 8,800 per month which is only 3% of Bayer's rate. Patent controller in his decision found that the medicine was available only to a small percentage of population and does not meet the requirements of the public. 

India's first ever compulsory license and the latest development were viewed with great concern by generic industries in developing countries  as a prospective watershed for affordable access to patentable medicines as well as  developed nations like US who opposes the move. 

India is currently in middle of raging patent battles in pharma industry with Novartis appeal  currently in supreme court and Delhi High court's Judgement on Cipla v Rosch.

Amar Remedies accused of “passing off”

Dabur Ayurvedic Natural Health Care Products India has filed a case against Amar Remedies, for infringing on the intellectual property rights (IPR) to its brand Meswak. Dabur in the has alleged that Amar Remedies manufactures a toothpaste under the brand name  Siwak and exports it to Algeria.

Along with IPR infringement, Dabur in the suit has also alleged that Amar Remedies has attempted to "pass off" Siwak as Meswak. Passing-off in IPR law means making a false representation that is likely to induce a person to believe that the goods or services are those of another.

In the petition Dabur has alleged that Amar has dishonestly adopted the the said mark Siwak on the toothpaste only with a view to trade on its  goodwill and  reputation 

Contributed by Abhishek Kukreti

The second China-US International Cooperation Forum on IPR begins

The 2nd China-US International Cooperation Forum on IPR kicked off Wednesday in Washington DC, with the objective of promoting bilateral exchanges on intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection. Government officials and representatives from the private sector participated in the Forum.

Addressing the Forum, the Deputy China International Trade Representative Chong Quan said "For China, encouraging innovation and protecting IPR not only cater to the need of restructuring its economy at the moment, but will also promote future development of its society. China has established a profound legal framework and law enforcement mechanism in dealing with IPR protection. And the government is deepening and broadening its work in the field. The Chinese government has set the target of building an innovation-oriented country and has therefore put IPR protection at a national strategic level."

The Chinese representatives also enlisted the past effective actions taken by the government for IPR protection. For example, in 2010, the central government launched a 10-month-long campaign in China to suppress the manufacturing and selling fake and shoddy goods. In 2011, the central government set up a national leading group led by Vice Premier Wang Qishan to deal with IPR infringement. All these efforts have achieved effective results.

David Kappos, the US Under Secretary of Commerce for intellectual property, praised China's efforts in this regard. The prime focus of this Forum will be on the information industry, particularly the internet. 

The Chinese deputy trade representative Chong Quan pointed out the challenges presented by internet industry, as he said that:
"The internet industry has entered its golden era. In China, to date, the volume of online transaction has reached six trillion yuan per year. That accounts for 13% of the total GDP. It has no doubt become a new economic growth point. Meanwhile, the protection of internet IPR has become an outstanding issue. At the recent China-US legal exchange conference, experts from both countries acknowledged that in the face of rapid technological innovation, IPR protection is more dependent on international cooperation. Only cooperation can bring development as well as create a win-win situation for both countries. Such a cooperative concept is not only conducive to our bilateral diplomatic relations, but will also benefit our cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, as well as IPR protection."
"By May 2011, all agencies of the Chinese central government were using legitimate software only. By June 2012, all provincial governments were doing so," he said, adding that municipal and township governments across the country are expected to catch up by the end of 2013.

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Significant changes on the anniversary of AIA

In 2011, when the America Invents Act (AIA) was given the shape of law on September 16 last year, some significant changes were introduced to U.S. patent law, including changes to patent litigation rules and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) procedures. While some changes - particularly those related to patent litigation (such as limitations on joinder of defendants, the elimination of the best mode invalidity defense, an expansion of the prior use defense, and provisions regarding proof of willful and induced infringement) - went into effect immediately, some additional aspects of the Act, including significant changes to procedures within the USPTO, were implemented on September 16, 2012.

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Apple embarks on a winning spree

In a setback for Google and another win for Apple, a German court has found Google-owned IT company Motorola guilty of infringing Apple patents on the design of smartphones and tablets, a court spokesman said on Thursday. The court ordered Motorola to pay a yet-to-be-specified fine and pull the infringing devices, from the market.

This particular patent involves a feature known as "overscroll bounce" or "rubber-banding" that pulls a written text or image back to the centre of the screen to signify to the user that the end of a list or menu has been completed. Motorola had won a similar patent case in western Germany last July and has one month to appeal the decision.

 It would be interesting to see, what would be the outcome of the appeal. On the other hand for Apple, it has been a winning spree, till now. In August, a California court decided in favour of Apple in a patent case against Samsung, awarding the iPhone maker about one billion dollars in damages.  

The case is just one of many patent battles that technology companies have waged worldwide, but especially in Germany where patent protection laws are particularly strict. This case might just give Apple, the required boost to sell its latest IPhone, which has got a mixed review.

Contributed by

Abhishek Kukreti

Ek tha Tiger in copyright controversy !!

After a series of movies like Jannath 2 and Desi Boyz, now it is the turn of Salman Khan starrer Ek Tha Tiger. According to reports Salman's blockbuster has met with a copyright infringement case after one Mr Anand Pande has filed a complaint with Mumbai police alleging that the producers have stolen his script and made it into a movie without providing him adequate compensation.

However Hindustan times report that Neelesh Mishra, Co-writer of Ek Tha Tiger has vehemently denied the charges of copying and even challenged Anand Pande to prove his charges.

Mumbai Police have already lodged an FIR against the producer Aditya Chopra and Director Kabir Khan. Anand Pande has also filed  a complaint against them with the Film Writers Association.

Pnade has earlier approached the Mumbai Highcourt who directed the police to launch an FIR on the issue.

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Barfi ! faces the Murfy Trademark issue.

A day before release of Barfi !, the upcoming movie of Anurag Basu, the British manufacturers Murphy Radio sent the notice to the producers UTV group and Ishana films, alleging trademark infringement. In the notice, the company has claimed that the makers have used 'Murphy', 'Murphy Radio' and 'Murphy Munna' in the title song as well as in the film without taking an NOC (no objection certificate) from them. 

The notice, sent through advocate Sujeet G Kurup, says, “The company Murphy Enterprises owns at least 32 trademarks under several classes. If the notice is not taken seriously, the company will file a legal suit against the Barfi team, bringing a stay on the movie release, or further perusal claiming damages worth Rs. 50 crore.”

The main point of controversy is over the song Ala Barfi, the lyrics of which are: “Barfi jo amma ji ki kokh mein tha soya/ Amma ne murphy ka radio mangaya/ barfi munna jaisa lalla/ amma ka tha sapna/ Munna jab haule haule duniya mein aaya/ Baba ne Ceylon wala station lagaya/ Radio on hua, amma off hui/ Toota har sapna.”

However, UTV responded positively, by saying “We are clear there has been no infringement whatsoever, and are in the process of responding to the notice.”

 

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