Intellectual Property

Over 100 million animals are used in laboratory experiments worldwide every year. These are only estimates; the exact number is unknown and could possibly even be higher. These animals are either killed outright in scientific procedures, or used to assess the safety and efficacy of drugs and cosmetics. ......

Before a new drug, biologic or medical device is approved and authorized for market launch, it has to undergo a long and complex process involving extensive testing and clinical trials to ensure its safety and efficacy. However, for patients who have exhausted all other options, sometimes an unapproved or pre-approved or investigational drug could be the only hope. ......

Patent marking entails marking a patented product with its relevant patent number. Proper patent marking can help obtain higher monetary damages in a patent infringement lawsuit, as marking means that infringers cannot claim ignorance of liability. However, if there is no marking, damages are likely to be calculated only from the time of actual notice. ......

A key question that confronts participants in any disruptive and innovative industry is that of intellectual property (IP) protection. Software is no exception. Multiple IP routes, e.g., copyrights, patents, and trade secrets, are available for protecting software, but the appropriate choice is not always automatically evident. ......

The odds of successfully obtaining or protecting a trademark depend on various factors. For example, the presence of identical or similar marks, either pre-existing on the trade marks register or available in the market is a fundamental test. Another factor is the proposed mark’s distinctiveness, or its ability to stand out on its own. ......

India is the largest producer of generic drugs in the world, and thus, it is no surprise that a great deal of patent litigation in India has centred on the manufacture of generics. While there are provisions in the law that permit the use of patented drugs for research and development (“R&D”) and for obtaining regulatory approvals, permissibility around the export of such drugs for similar purposes can be in the grey. ......

Filing for a trademark and having it examined by the Trade Marks Office is only the first step in the journey towards obtaining a registered trademark. Under Indian Trademark law, once a trademark applied for has been examined for objections pertaining to distinctiveness or similarity with earlier cited marks, the trademark application is advertised in the Trademarks Journal. ......

It is sometimes presumed that the patent application process concludes with the grant of a patent, after it has been successfully prosecuted. Although prosecution examines an application for patentability, its true test arguably comes during the opposition process. ......

Much emphasis is placed in patent law on the importance of filing for protection as early as possible in the inventive process, in order to obtain necessary rights and benefits. But these applications are by no means set in stone. There is room to amend patent applications, and in India, amendments can be done both while an application is pending, and after a patent has been granted, subject to appropriate permissions from the Controller. ......