FIGHT OVER ABSOLUT

V& S Vin and Spirit, the proprietor of Absolut have begumn proceedings against Virgin Radio which has been rebranded as Ansolute Radio. 

V & S Vin and Spirit owns the treademark to Absolut vodka and Absolut radio. They claim Virgin Radio is infringing their mark.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT BY MAJOR NEWSPAPERS

Blogs have become very popular on the Internet. Recent reports show that numerous newspapers are downloading and using photograps which have been clicked by bloggers and put up on blogs. This is a violation of copyright whic is vested with the individuals who got those photographs.

Major papers like Times of India, Hindustan Times along with numerosu local newspapers are guilty of the same. 

But the question arises as to how much protection can the bloggers avail of. To be practical, it is a very diffcult thing to monitor the usage of photographs on Blogs. The newspaper agency has to just ensure that they use a photograph of a blog which is owned by someone in another country. That individual wuld nt even know of the misuse as he doesnt get copies of tthe ppaper at his country. 

Stringent measure are called for to discourage and to prevent the same.

E- FILING OF TRADEMARKS IN FRANCE

The French Trade Mark Office (INPI) has officially launched its e-filing platform this morning athttp://depot-marque.inpi.fr (available in French only). The online filing of French trade mark applications had been tested this summer with several trade mark professionals.

CSIR TO SET UP HOLDING COMPANY

To monotezie its inventory of patnets, CSIR is planning on setting up a holding company, to whom all patents nealry amounting to 300 would be transferred, to liscence out and sell patents to companies like Intellectual Ventures so as to make the maximum money out of the liscensing and giving out of patents which they hold.

CSIR presently spend a huge amount of money maintaining and filing patents than it earns from the revenues of the patents.

uch a move would increse profit margins and the technology could alos be use to alleviate the conditons of the poor.

NATONAL INNOVATION ACT, 2008

India has unveiled the National Innovation Act, 2008 . The aim of the act as satated in the preamble is  as follows;

"An Act to facilitate public, private or public- private partnership initiatives for building an Innovation support system to encourage Innovation, evolve a National Integrated Science and Technology Plan and codify and consolidate the law of confidentiality in aid of protecting Confidential Information, trade secrets and Innovation. "

 To access the full act. go to http://dst.gov.in/draftinnovationlaw.pdf

HARI PUTTAR

For more news on the review of the movie Harri Puttar please visit http://spicyipindia.blogspot.com/2008/09/hari-puttar-reviewing-movie-and.html

HEARING OF FIRST PRODUCT PATENT OPPOSITION

The Patent Office has begun the hearing of Pegasys, India's first product patent under the new Patent Act, which had been granted to Roche India, the Indian branch of the Swiss Hoffman La Roche, and then subsequently received one of India’s first post-grant opposition in March last year.