Break the Deadlock
In 1995, many in India were outraged to learn that a university in the US was granted a patent to make and sell haldi (turmeric) for its wound …
'There is a conflict in gene patenting in India and abroad'
ASIS DUTTA, a senior biologist at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, is the first Indian scientist to have applied for a gene patent in …
Are we ready to hand over on our life-forms?
There are certain plants, vegetables and fruits indigenous to India having medicinal properties. The knowledge of these properties rests with …
Fig leaf for the business world
That is what the Montreal Protocol, meant to do away with ozone depleting substances, has become. India's phase out programme under the protocol …
Will the boom last?
Fifteen years after it rose and went limp, the biotech sector, globally, as well as in India has seen a bull run of sorts. In January this year, …
TRIPPED
On December 26, 2004, the Union government of India issued the Patents (Amendments) Ordinance, which will change the way the country does …
Foss time in India
Microsoft is the most familiar term in the proprietary software industry. The company's penetration in people's minds is so deep that it is often …
Paan loses flavour
Iconic paan no more appeals to farmers, traders and common people. They say the contagious spread of chewing tobacco, especially gutkha, is fast …
Manipulating Research
Private funding has given a new meaning to scientific research today. With rising corporate research budgets, academic institutions are leaning …
Non-profit diseases
There is a logic to the idea of neglected diseases. Historically the diseases poor people get--largely in the poorer parts of the world--haven't …
A treaty too many
India is learning that there is a heavy price to be paid for the large number of bilateral investment treaties, or BITs, it has signed in the …
The hunt for benefits
India is hailed as a pioneer in implementing the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity—fair and equitable sharing of …
Gilead granted patent for hepatitis C drug Solvadi
The move is being seen as a possible impact of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to the US next month
More Indian residents filing patents than MNCs despite challenges: Economic Survey
India still lags behind China, the United States, Japan and South Korea despite an increase in the number of patents being filed
Bedaquiline and India's patent law
Opposition to the new patent claims on the Johnson & Johnson drug is a test of how well the rules against evergreening are working
Gatt's new avatar is a demon
An extraordinary session of the US Congress meets in December to approve the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade amidst fears that its new …
Unfounded euphoria
The CSIR may have managed to shoot down one US patent on turmeric but Indian biodiversity needs a strong law to protect it
The Chinese patent juggernaut
China has toppled Japan from No 2 spot and is set to become the leader in global patent filings, specially in future technologies
Poverty abounds in bio-rich areas
Complex systems of preserving biodiversity, evolved over centuries, have not saved traditional communities living in bio-rich areas like India …
In steaming hot curry
Curry is probably the most Indian thing in the world. How could the Japanese even want to patent it?
Lethal hypocrisy of US Special 301 Report
Patent protection in the US is a convoluted and expensive business and yet it pulls up other countries that have robust systems
Unconventional interference
The United States has decreed that GATT will have the last word on intellectual property rights, thus throwing the Biodiversity Convention to the …
The thorn buds
Parisians see red and intercept a consignment of Indian roses meant to reach French women on Valentines day, turning it into a thorny issue
Environmental trade-off
The US signs a new trade agenda and seeks stricter control over its intellectual property rights in India
Patent parley
The Rao government has proved itself unconvincing in handling the Opposition on GATT-related patent reforms
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