Crazy for GI? Think again
The protection of Geographical Indication is not a guarantee that the artisan or producer will benefit; traders can corner the premium
A rather ridiculous gap
Clothing giant Gap’s trademark infringement notice to an NGO selling products made from recycled waste is a curious case
India’s 3 D Message
The Supreme Court judgment in the Novartis case clearly upholds India’s patent laws, not weakens the patent regime
The fine line for judges
Judges have recused themselves in a number of cases but there are no clear guidelines on what constitutes conflict of interest
Pushing limits of drug access
Relying solely on gross national income to determine priorities in global health is not working any more
NCD battle starts now
The UN agreement on non-communicable diseases will get snagged on the issue of intellectual property rights for drugs
Maths of Gilead's hepatitis C drug
Why US firm's super expensive drug sofosbuvir costs so much and how it can be made at a tenth of current price
Obama takes first dip
The US becomes the first to join a global patents pool to make AIDS drugs cheaper but health workers are sceptical of the initiative
Access, yes. Sharing, no
The access and benefit-sharing protocol on biodiversity may do little to deter multinationals from grabbing the planet’s resources
Evergreen Novartis
The Swiss pharma giant’s challenge to India’s patent law, now in the Supreme Court, may help define drug efficacy
Cipla's audacious move
Why generics maker Cipla has asked government to revoke Novartis patent on respiratory ailment drug
Monsanto does it again
The biotech seed giant sues a farmer for planting unbranded commodity seeds bought in the open market for patent infringement
The natco-pfizer test
Natco’s demand for a voluntary licence from Pfizer will establish how well the compulsory licence process works in India
It’s still open season for bio-piracy
Rich nations block accord on benefit-sharing rules for the world’s genetic resources
Righting the copywrong
Amending the Copyright Act to give directors, composers and musicians rights over their work has corrected a historic wrong but trouble is brewing
Patent hypocrisies of US
American business lobbies are spreading falsehoods about India’s patent policies—and glossing over their double standards
Any cheers for Doha pact?
The Doha Declaration on protecting public health is a decade old, but developing countries have not been able to make use of TRIPs flexibilities
Drug affordability test
Natco’s bid for a compulsory licence to manufacture a Bayer anti-cancer drug is a test of the law’s ‘reasonable price’ …
No climate for cleantech
Most of the clean energy innovations are with just six rich countries and hardly any technology is coming to developing nations
Pursuing a nationalist IPR policy
India has enough laws to protect its intellectual property rights. It is the implementation that is wanting
Bringing Google to book
Google’s digital library project went too far, creating a monopoly over the heritage of books
Patent issues delaying Ebola cure
Canada's exclusive licensing rights of its Ebola patent to a US firm are holding up global development of a vaccine
What Durban did not discuss
IPRs are blocking access to mitigation and adaptation technologies. India offers a way out
Disclosure-shy industry
Pharma and biotech firms are lobbying hard to block disclosure of origin of genetic material used in inventions, but they also raise thorny issues
New endosulfan ploy
Industry is sidestepping issues by pitching the proposed UN ban on endosulfan as the battle between generics and patented pesticides