Article
Decoding the ‘Algorithm’ exclusion: A closer look at draft CRI Guidelines 2025 By Jaya Pandeya and Prabhat Kumar
The article discusses the draft version 2.0 of the Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions (‘CRIs’). The updated Guidelines now include more detailed examples clarifying patentable and non-patentable subject matter. This article elaborately analyzes how the Guidelines propose to determine whether or not a claimed invention is excluded as an ‘algorithm’. According to the authors, the Guidelines, if enforced in their present form, could lead to denial of protection for inventions solely because they lack hardware features, thereby risking the exclusion of legitimate software-based inventions from patentability.
Patentability of intermediates – Troubling interpretation: A critique of the Zeria judgment By Archana Viswanathan and Prosenjit Chattopadhyay
The article discusses a recent Delhi High Court decision which is one of the few cases thus far, concerning patentability of pharmaceutical intermediates. The Court has held that even for intermediate compounds, the applicant must demonstrate that the claimed invention leads to a pharmaceutical product with enhanced therapeutic efficacy, not merely improved process yields or synthetic convenience. According to the authors, the decision seems to reflect a rigid and arguably somewhat imperfect interpretation of Section 3(d) of the Patents Act, particularly when applied to intermediate compounds.
In good spirits: The Geographical Indication war over ‘Pisco’ By Kirti Sood
The article discusses a recent Delhi High Court decision where the Court has conducted a thorough examination of the provisions regarding the prohibition of GI registration in specific instances, as well as the registration of homonymous GIs. The Court ruled that shared history cannot be monopolized and that both Peru and Chile have legitimate claims to produce ‘PISCO’. According to the author, the decision exemplifies how Indian courts are navigating the evolving landscape of GI law, aiming to safeguard traditional products while ensuring fair competition.
Rethinking the thresholds in biosimilar patent infringement disputes By Geethanjali K.V.
The article discusses a Delhi High Court decision which granted an-interim injunction restraining a pharma company from manufacturing, clearing or dealing its biosimilar version of the cancer medication Nivolumab until the expiry of the Indian Patent. According to the author, by treating the defendant’s regulatory filings and bio similarity claims as indicative of infringement, the Court seems to have deviated from an earlier precedent where the absence of an infringing product and the failure to establish claim mapping precluded the grant of quia timet relief.
Ratio decidendi
- Patents – Resolving a problem in one type of motor vehicle cannot be equated with resolving the same problem in different type of vehicle – Madras High Court
- Patents – Infringement of process patent – Onus of proof shifts on defendant under Section 104A only when plaintiff mandatorily proves that products are identical – Delhi High Court
- Trademarks – Statements made in opposition notices do not qualify as ‘threats’ under Section 142(1) – Madras High Court
- Trademark – Deemed abandonment of opposition if opponent neither submits evidence nor intimates reliance only on facts stated in opposition; consideration of written arguments not required – Delhi High Court
- Pro tem deposit in a case of alleged infringement of SEP – Court when not to get into detailed finding on essentiality and validity of suit patent – Delhi High Court
- Passing off action can be initiated in respect of a trademark which is registered as Design – Delhi High Court Division Bench
News Nuggets
- Absence of definition of ‘infringement’ in Patents Act is a ‘legislative lacuna’
- Trademarks – Priority of user by itself is no defense to infringement
- Patents – Therapeutic efficacy is wholly irrelevant for purposes of interpreting Section 3(e)
- Trademark ‘NUTELLA’ declared a well-known trademark
- Copyright infringement of literary work in production of film when not sustainable
- Trademarks ‘FUNFINE’ and ‘FUNSHINE’ are phonetically and deceptively similar
- India-UK FTA – No breach of TRIPS or domestic Indian law
- India will not allow evergreening of patents: Commerce Minister
- Prime Minister asks scientists to secure patents for new drugs, etc.
