Patent

A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court has brought much-required clarity on filing of divisional applications in India, which at least two different single judge benches of the same court had disagreed upon previously. ......

When is a new product considered a mere discovery of something that subsists in nature and thus unpatentable, and when is it altogether new or unfamiliar, and thus, worthy of being granted a patent? This is the question that the Delhi High Court tackled in the recent case of Diamond Star Global SDN BHD v Joint Controller of Patents. ......

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. ......

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. ......

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. ......

Driving – or the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle - is not an overwhelming task for humans. But what goes into the mechanics of driving is a complex operation of vehicle controls while constantly monitoring surroundings. This is in fact a mammoth task and machines have been limited to driver-assisted roles for decades. ......