Evergreening rampant in India

India's patent office has ignored the strict safeguards against evergreening and allowed a flood of secondary drug patents

Navara rice controversy: Plant Variety Act doesn’t protect farmers’ interests, say experts

A farmer’s plea to register a traditional rice variety has once again raised concerns about loopholes in the Protection of Plant …

Patents zoom, but where is the innovation?

India is among the top patent filers globally, but it has yet to make its mark in any breakthrough technologies

Films chained, unchained

Follow the Chinese way on high tech

Making universities the hub of innovation and churning out scientists adept in frontier technology has put China at the top

Untapped potential

India’s two-decade journey with Geographical Indication tags has shown limited out-come and there is an urgent need to simplify the …

Farmers' rights are a hot potato

The fallout between US major PepsiCo and Gujarat’s potato growers underlines the looming threat to farmers’ rights in India over …

Ecovillage and traditional village: a comparison

An ecovillage differs from the traditional village where generally decisions are taken by elders or the chief belonging to upper castes or a …

Civil society challenges patents on Hepatitis C drugs

Pharmaceutical corporations obtain unjustified patents making the drugs unaffordable to many, petitioners claim  

Betrayal by monopoly

Book>> Common as air, revolution, art and ownership • by Lewis Hyde, Farrar, Strauss and Girar

Coronavirus vaccines: TRIPS waiver caught in WTO labyrinth

Little change in the position of countries opposing waiver of intellectual property rights; India-South Africa proposal being through hoops …

IPR claims by big companies; farmers' food security under threat

Patents on seeds by corporations leave farmers unable to save or share seeds

FARM IP, ENTER WIPO

Developing countries will now have to battle IP issues related to new agricultural technologies at WIPO instead of WTO

Union Budget 2020-21: Examining the agri-research agenda

Increased investment in agriculture research an absolute need of the hour

Bulbul damages crops, houses, electricity and water connections in Odisha

Though no death has been reported in the state, damage to property has been immense

The first punch

In the midst of war, Russia hits at patents

As US-EU sanctions deepen, Moscow passes a law to allow free use of patents owned by ‘unfriendly countries’

Historic win for farmer seed rights: PepsiCo’s IPR on potato variety revoked

Judgement against Pepsico potato variety sets precedent for all seed and food and beverages corporations not to transgress farmers’ seed …

Tribute to Gopal Kadekodi—the man of ecological economics and more

Gopal Kadekodi has made major contributions to science, society, environment and humanity, among others

Civil society raises concern over RCEP negotiations

The free trade agreement will cover a large range of issues—trade in goods, agriculture, services, investment and intellectual property

Finally, firm no to software patents

The Patent Office has clearly said software patents can only be granted if linked to novel hardware

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  

Is the development of green intellectual property paving the way to environmental sustainability in India?

About 13% of India’s high-value patents are related to green tech

Post-pandemic blues of predatory pharma

Huge stockpiles of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, along with a steep drop in revenues, tell a sorry tale of Big Pharma’s greed   

It will be months before there is consensus over COVID-19 vaccine patents: Experts

The United States has supported a temporary waiver on COVID-19 vaccine patents; but not all is hunky-dory, say experts