CII- GW- USPTO-USIBC IP Symposium [23-24 February 2009: New Delhi]

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with The George Washington University Law School, USA and USIBC is organizing the Sixth Annual Intellectual Property & Corporate Law Delegation from 22-25 February 2009 at New Delhi.

A two day IP symposium will be conducted as a part of this George Washington University Law School India Project on 23-24 February 2009. The 2009 IPR Symposia will continue the tradition of building bridges through interaction with industry, judicial outreach, industry-academia collaborative initiatives, and discussions of policy reforms.

The objective of the International symposium on IPR is to:

• Foster Partnership between US, European & Asian Industry leaders for Collaborative Projects in IPR
• A 360 degree overview of the latest development in the IP related issues
• Interaction with judicial and policy makers from various levels
• Gain knowledge on the comparison between Europe, US and Japan in patent related cases
• Disseminating International best Practices in IP Protection & enforcement.

Details of the Symposium, here.

Reply Form, here.

The Speakers are great and I hope to be there.

If you of the readers plan to be there, please reply back at the comments section.

Best wishes for 2009

Dear Readers,

I wish you and your loved ones, the best for 2009. I hope and pray that the coming year brings in happiness and peace to you in these turbulent times.

2008 has been good for 'generic pharmaceuticals and IP blog' ... and credit for this is to the 1,11,000 odd visitors that visited this blog and got it selected as a Top blog by Lexis Nexis.

Indian Patent Office Launches National IPR Campaign in association with FICCI

The folks at FICCI are doing great work at IP awareness. Post their efforts at the Patent decisions access matter [blogged here], they are now working on creating larger public awareness on IPR.

In this regard, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) announced National IPR Campaign” on World IP Day, the April 26th, 2008. To transform this vision into reality, Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under Ministry of Commerce and Industry in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), other institutions and industry associations are jointly conducting seminars, workshops and specialized training programmes in industrially important cities across India.

The seminars in association with FICCI will be held in eight cities all over India namely Jaipur, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Delhi, Ranchi, Surat, Bhopal and Agra during December [2008], January, February and March [2009].

The programs are highly specialized and specially oriented for the IP users, industries, innovators, and entrepreneurs and alike.

At the end of the conference a quiz contest shall be held to map the success rate of the programme. The winners shall be awarded cash prize on the spot. At the end of each seminar, the Certificate shall be issued directly by Controller General, Indian Patent Office to all the participants.
NOTE: These seminars are FREE for all participants.

For respective dates, places, and further information, click here.
A pro-forma program structure is available here.

EPC Handbook: A Guide for Practitioners - 2nd Edition

Well its the time for book releases.
After the previous post on Feroz's book, today's post is for a new book on European Patent law.

EPC Handbook: A Guide for Practitioners - 2nd Edition

Authors:
Dr Heinz Goddar, Christian Appelt, Motohiko Fujimura, S.Nagaoka and Kay Konishi

This is the second edition of 'the' definitive guide. It is aimed at patent professionals working in industry or in an advisory capacity. It explains the main types of procedure at the European Patent Office and contains numerous practical tips. In particular, recent case law is taken into account as well as the process of registering software and business methods.

Importantly, the primary changes due to EPC 2000 reforms, new rules and regulations that entered into force in December 2007 are explained at length such as Self Revocation and Limitation, Medical Use Claims, Search Fees and Unity of Invention, Equivalents, Novelty, Information Disclosure Statements, Priority, Review of Appeals and others.

Here is the link to the detailed contents page [in .pdf].

The Authors behind this reference volume are well respected professionals and come with IP practice as well as teaching/ writing background.
• Dr. H. Goddar [German and European Patent Attorney] is an Associate Judge at the Senate for Patent Matters at the German Federal Court of Justice and a Past President of LES International and of LES Germany. Indian readers know of him as the enthusiastic speaker who has lectured in almost every major city on patent law either through a WIPO seminar or on behalf of Boehmert & Boehmert.

• Dr. C. W. Appelt [German and European Patent Attorney] besides his main responsibility as a Partner at Boehmert & Boehmert, has an interesting experience profile, which includes a two year stint in Japan. He also lectures extensively on various topics of European and German patent law.

• Motohiko Fujimura is a Japanese Patent Attorney and President of Fujimura & Associates Tokyo, Japan. Fujimora San, has earlier, co-authored the “Simplified EPO Guidelines” and is a regular writer of IP articles, in English and Japanese.

• S. Nagaoka is a Japanese Patent Attorney, associated with Fujimura & Associates, Tokyo, Japan.

• Ms. Kay Konishi is a Patent Attorney and a Partner in the Miyoshi & Miyoshi law firm.

Bibliographic Details:
Title: EPC Handbook: A Guide for Practitioners [2nd Edition]
Authors: Dr. Heinz Goddar, Dr. Christian Appelt, Motohiko Fujimura, S. Nagaoka and Kay Konishi
ISBN: 978-81-905377-04
Release: December 2008
Price: Rs. 895.00/ Euro 39.99

I have attended quite a few lectures conducted by Dr. Goddar and he is a wonderful teacher, with a very simple, yet passionate style. Similarly, Dr. Appelt too has an interesting style of narration. I am sure that this book, written by people with exhaustive knowledge will be a valuable reference book for all your European patent law queries.

And as you may know, it is always our effort at the Generic pharmaceuticals and IP blog to get a sweet offer for our loyal readers.
Accordingly, the Publishers of the book have been generous to give a great offer to all Indian buyers. The offer includes a discount of 10% off the MRP + a free Speed Post shipping offer on all orders for books to be delivered in India. So, the net price for Indian buyers will be only Rs. 805/- inclusive of shipping.
Just email them and give reference of this blog offer.
For orders to be delivered outside India, the buyer will have to pay Euro 39.99 + actual postage.

So, please go ahead and order here.

The Touchstone Effect: The Impact of Pre-grant Opposition on Patents – New Book by Advocate Feroz Ali

Friends, well known Indian IP advocate – Feroz Ali is out with his second book on patents. The last time around, Feroz wrote a treatise on the Indian patent law with a focus on pharmaceuticals. This time, Feroz has taken a very specific part of the Indian patent system – pre-grant oppositions, and written a business book on the topic [so, non lawyers, fret not!].

The book is called "The Touchstone Effect: The Impact of Pre-grant Opposition on Patents" and as its name suggests, is focused on understanding the unique pre-grant opposition mechanism in India and how it can be used by business houses to protect their interests.

Right from the cover – showing gold bars, and a where a particular gold bar reveals to be a 'steel bar', the book has its message clear. A pre-grant opposition can be used to identify the real inventions and differentiate them from the patent applications that may are not worthy of being granted a patent.

As with his first book, the present book also has an interactive [and very well updated] blog page. Feroz had done a similar exercise for his first book. The blog page for his new book already is up and running and has the patent office decisions referred in the book (with the relevant page and chapter numbers) which can be searched and downloaded.

The book as well as the blog start off from a case study of the Bajaj-TVS dispute, which opened the eyes of business community on how a patent dispute that could have been averted, rises and almost impacts a product on which huge resources have been invested. The Book is compact in nature and only 140 odd pages of main reading material. I have gone through a couple of chapters and I assure that the pace and the examples put therein make it a great read. Feroz has gone beyond his legal writing to include so many examples [a large number from the pharmaceutical business] that it makes a great read.

Well readers, to get benefits for our blog readers, Feroz and his Publishers have come up with a great offer:

The book can be purchased online for just Rs.295/- at www.lnbw.in or http://www.lexisnexis.in As a special offer, the book will be shipped to anywhere in India for just one Rupee!

The book is available for US$ 14.75 + shipping for readers/ professionals, outside India.

So, go ahead and order the book.

Bibliographic details:

Title: The Touchstone Effect: The Impact of Pre-grant Opposition on Patents

Author(s): Feroz Ali Khader

ISBN: 9788180385544

Year: 2008

Format: Soft Cover

Edition: 2009

Price: INR 295.00 / US$ 14.75

Having read, reviewed and used Feroz's first book often [it has become my de facto reference book], and now in the midst of reading the second book, I can say with confidence that this new book is a comfortable read and an eye opener for business folks who can look at patent oppositions with a different perspective.

For those of you who are keen to buy the first book – "The Law Of Patents-With A Special Focus On Pharmaceuticals In India", please click this link at Lexis Nexis.

India: Patent Office decisions now downloadable

The Patent Office site for Opposition decision now works [well, almost].
I had previously blogged on the decisions not being downloadable/ readable, here.

Now that decisions are readable and downloadable, I thank the entire Patent Office staff who have put efforts behind this venture. This effort will go a long way in training/ educating IP professionals on how to approach and fight patent oppositions.

A thank you is also due to the large number of IPR professionals and Institutions [notably FICCI] that have constantly rallied and communicated about IP transparency and education to the Patent Office.

I hope that the other suggestions/ recommendations by these professionals/ FICCI are also implemented. Readers who would like to put in suggestions can get in touch with Ms. Sheetal Chopra {sheetal[dot]chopra[at]ficci[dot]com}, Senior Assistant Director – FICCI IPR Division.

TEST: I tried searching for opposition decisions from Ranbaxy as applicant using Internet Explorer
I was able to download some decisions [as .pdf files], when clicked on application number hyper-link, while some hyper links for decisions did not give the .pdf file.

INDIA: Patent Office decisions now in public domain

Regular readers know that I am all for transparency in the Indian Patent Office, more so on its procedure towards opposition decisions.

The Indian Patent Office has taken a positive step in this regard and decided to put Opposition decisions on-line. NOW, the Indian Patent Office decisions are 'purportedly' available for every one to read and download.

Please visit this link on the Indian Patent Office's site.
Upon visiting the link, you will see a page that allows searching by 6 options:
a) Patent number;
b) Application number;
c) Applicant;
d) Opponent;
e) Controller &
f) Section number.

Now, I know that quite a few of you will visit the site and revert back to me saying that the site does NOT work.
Well, yes, it does not work completely now
BUT
it does give you a sense of the applications upon which the decision has been issued.

FOR e.g. when you search by opponent name [India's largest generic player], you will note that there are 9 clickable hyperlinks. So, you know that there are at least nine decisions involving this major player.
BUT, if you click on any of the hyper links, you will not get the actual decision copy [as yet] due to some 'technical reason'. This happens from both Internet Explorer and Mozilla.

So, at least this is a start. I am sure that the Indian Patent Office will resolve the technical problem very soon and all decisions will be readable/ downloadable, directly from the site.

Will keep you readers posted as soon as I get any concrete information on the technical solutions.