Friday, December 26, 2014

Proposed US Rulemaking For Section 1201 Exemptions

United States (U.S.) is currently involved in a rulemaking exercise that would grant exemptions from prohibition against circumvention of technological measures protecting copyrighted works. If this rulemaking is successful, it would allow exemption to certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works.

IPR Helpdesk of Perry4Law Organisation and PTLB has covered this issue here. Further updates on this topic would also be posted on this article as well. You may also check the Twitter account of IPR Helpdesk India in this regard for intellectual property rights (IPRs) related updates from India and abroad.

The IPR Helpdesk of India was launched in the year 2007 when it celebrated the renowned World IP Day of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Some of the public awareness initiatives of IPR Helpdesk of India include celebration of WIPO Week-2007(Please read here1 and here2 in this regard), providing of Intellectual Property Rights Trends in India-2007, celebration of World IP Day 2008 Of WIPO as WIPO Week- 2008, celebration of World IP Day 2009 Of WIPO, suggestions on proposed rulemaking by United State Copyright office for Section 1201 exemptions to prohibition against circumvention of technological measures protecting copyrighted works, etc.

The IPR Helpdesk of India would provide its comments on the abovementioned topic and the same would be posted here one by one. This is in continuation of Perry4Law Organisation’s commitment to spread public awareness in the field of IPRs in general and techno legal fields in particular. We hope various stakeholders would find our initiatives useful.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

WTO Settles Trade Dispute Between India And US Regarding Certain Steel Products

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has recently settled a trade dispute between India and United States that partially covered the interests of both countries. The dispute at WTO pertained to imposition of countervailing measures on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India.

The final report of the Appellate Body at WTO has been released on 8th December 2014. Our readers and other stakeholders can read the document titled United States – Countervailing Measures on Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from India – AB-2014-7 -Report of the Appellate Body (PDF) for more details. A summary of the same has also been made available by IPR Helpdesk of Perry4Law and PTLB as WTO Summary of the Dispute Settlement of Dispute No DS436 between India and US (PDF).

This decision is a mixed one where India prevailed over U.S. on few issues while U.S. prevailed over India on others. Nevertheless it is a big relief for Indian steel exporters who were facing uncertainties till now.

US has been showing its discomfort with the Indian IP regime whereas India has been steadily maintaining that its IP laws are in strict conformity with India’s international obligations under the WTO and TRIPS Agreement.

Nevertheless, India has decided to formulate the national IPR policy of India to alleviate the fears of US and other countries. We at Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) believe that the proposed IPR policy of India must also include technology aspects as well to be more effective.

These recent developments have resulted in the acceptance of India position regarding its international IP protection obligations to some extent. Even US has also softened its stand in this regard and this issue may not be discussed during the US President Obama’s visit to India.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

National IPR Policy Of India And Technology Issues

Indian government is in the process of formulating the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) Policy of India and preliminary formalities have already been completed in this regard. A group of experts have been brought together in the form of a think tank that would assist the government in this regard.

We at Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) welcome this move of Indian government and we wish and hope that the proposed national IPR policy of India would be released very soon. With the experts on the board, the proposed IPR policy would be drafted with best intentions and in the most appropriate manner.

We also hope and presume that the think tank would also consider the technology aspects of intellectual property rights while drafting the policy document. For instance, issues pertaining to domain name dispute resolution, cyber squatting, online copyright violations and their redressal, pirated TV broadcasting, industrial espionage, e-books, anti piracy redressal mechanism, online brands infringements and their management, international exhaustion of trademarkschallenges of new GTLDs, etc must also be considered while formulating the proposed national IPR policy of India.

Public awareness about IPRs protection and management in India is very low. At time companies and individuals take actions that are clearly illegal. Similarly, many times stakeholders are not aware that they are actually violating the IPRs of others. In many cases IPR protection under patent law of India is lost for improper handling of the product to be patented. Conflict of laws in cyberspace also requires compliance with laws of other jurisdictions to get appropriate relief.

IPR Helpdesk of Perry4Law has been spreading public awareness about IPRs in India and abroad since 2005. We believe that there is an urgent need to reform Indian IP laws keeping in mind the use and impact of technology upon them. The proposed national IPR policy of India also needs to cater technological issues of IPR in India. We hope the same would be achieved for the larger benefit of all stakeholders.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Dish TV Set Top Boxes Used Illegally In UAE

Digital contents have become a valuable commodity these days. The entertainment industry of India has also understood this fact very clearly. As a result it is trying hard to get maximum share in local and international markets.

However, these efforts must be legal in nature to be effective. The latest episode of illegal import of set top boxes of Dish TV and TataSky in UAE is an example where these companies are required to keep a close watch.

We hope these companies would have taken note of this negative development and must have framed techno legal polices to insulate themselves from legal actions originating from around the globe.