Pangea II** A operation against online supply of Counterfeit Drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on has completed a coordinated, weeklong (16 to 20 November 2009), international effort, called the International Internet Week of Action (IIWA).

The goal of the IIWA is to protect public health by: (1) Increasing the public's awareness about the dangers and risks associated with purchasing drugs and medical devices from Web sites (2) Identifying producers and distributors of counterfeit and illegal pharmaceutical products and medical devices (3) Targeting these individuals and businesses with civil or criminal action (4) Seizing counterfeit and illegal products and removing them from the supply chain.

The IIWA is an initiative sponsored by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the World Health Organization's International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (IMPACT), the Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime(PFIPC), and national health and law enforcement agencies from 24 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the UK and the US) .This coordinated International effort Operation is known as Operation Pangea II**.

Pangea II** is an operation to Combat Online Supply of Counterfeit & Illegal Medicines. Due to an ever-increasing number of websites supplying dangerous and illegal medicines, this operation was focused on three aspects of the illegal websites – 1. Internet Service Provider (ISP) 2 . Payment Systems 3 . The Delivery services, investigators revealed 751 websites engaged in illegally selling drugs, 72 of which have now been taken down. In addition to that, more than 16,000 packages were inspected by regulators and customs, 995 packages were seized and nearly 167,000 illicit and counterfeit pills including antibiotics, steroids and slimming pills were confiscate. One of the Findings from the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines Report 2008 revealed that 62% of medicines purchased online are fake or substandard.

Interpol secretary general Ronald K Noble said that the primary goal of Operation Pangea II was to protect the public. "We will do this by removing counterfeit and illicit medicines from the market, by shutting down illegal sales on the web, and by prosecuting those potentially putting lives of innocent consumers at risk," he said.

During the week, OCI and FDA import specialists joined with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Customs and Border Protection ( CBP) , the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to target and interdict shipments of violative pharmaceutical products moving through certain International Mail Facilities (IMFs) and express courier hubs for more information buying medicine and medical product over the internet .

During the effort, the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI), in conjunction with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research ( CDER )and the Office of Regulatory Affairs, Office of Enforcement, targeted 136 Web sites that appeared to be engaged in the illegal sale of unapproved or misbranded drugs to U.S. consumers. None of the Web sites are for pharmacies in the United States or Canada.

The agency issued 22 warning letters to the operators of these Web sites and notified Internet service providers (ISP) and domain name registrars that the Web sites were selling products in violation of U.S. law. In many cases, because of these violations, Internet service providers and domain name registrars may have grounds to terminate the Web sites and suspend the use of domain names.

The FDA works in close collaboration with our regulatory and law enforcement counterparts in the United States and throughout the world to protect the public,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. “Many U.S. consumers are being misled in the hopes of saving money by purchasing prescription drugs over the Internet from illegal pharmacies. Unfortunately, these drugs are often counterfeit, contaminated, or unapproved products, or contain an inconsistent amount of the active ingredient. Taking these drugs can pose a danger to consumers.

Government initiative for promotion of Darjeeling Tea

The government spends around Rs 60 lakh per annum on legal requirements to protect the `Darjeeling’ tea brand globally. This amount is spent to protect the word `Darjeeling’ and the logo of the tea produced from that area, Jyotiraditya Scindia ( minister of state for commerce) told. The tea which is being produced in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal, was the first product to be registered in the country under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. Darjeeling tea word and logo both are registered in class 30 of good respectively application no 1 and 2 .Applications were filed by TEA BOARD , which a statutory authority of the government of india established in 1953 under the Tea Act 1953 .

Geographical indication is a sign used on goods that have a specific area origin and possess qualities, reputation or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that region. Geographical indication aims at preventing non-Darjeeling tea from being passed off as Darjeeling tea.

Scindya has said the government has sanctioned an amount of 5.68 Crore in the 11th year plan to upgrade the Darjeeling Tea Research and Development centre as a centre of excellence of the promotion of premium tea .( New released on 26 Nov ,2009 in times of India )

Gyan Shodh III: A Social Internship

"Gyan Shodh" - a social Internship,  which was first conducted in June 2009 with the participation of BITS, Pilani students and repeated by PG IPTMA  students of NAARM in Sep 09 has been appreciated by the participants and and those who went through the reports of GYan Shodh I and II. AP honey Bes network has expressed thanks all gyan shodhis; BITS, Pilani approached Honeybee AP to conduct it as part of their two months Practice School in May 2010. They accepted it with humility and resolved to make it a permanent feature for that great Institution by conducting it effectively.

 This is more than just information and reminds us especially younger generations like us of our social responsibility. This is more important for IP professionals like us who run after innovation and knowledge management at a sophisticated lab level but ignore the innovations and traditional knowledge lying untapped , unprotected in our forests, villages etc. Gyan Shodh nothing  but a pilgrimage to these temples of knowledge.  NIF (National Innovation Foundation) has taken up this very challenging task of knowledge scouting in these forgotten areas and AP honey bee network is their supporter in AP.  

They have decided to conduct a Gyan Shodh in December,2009 and the venues chosen are forest and Northern tribal area of Warangal dist. from 6-13 Dec 09. Third option is in tribal area of Adilabad dist. The venues for arrival will be Srisailam. warangal and Utnur respectively on the appointed day.

 This being voluntary in nature, the entire expenses will be borne by all the participants and the coordinators equally. Those who cannot afford will be helped by those who can afford. Rs 100 per day would be sufficient for the duration as an average estimate. More details once the venue is finalized.

This is an appeal from AP honey bee Network to you all to participate in  this journey and contribute to society, to country along with leveraging this chance for self development and some adventure during holidays.

PUNERI PAGADI REWARDED FOR G.I. CERTIFICATION

The famous headgear ‘Puneri Pagadi’, which is known as the symbol of pride and honor in the Pune region has rewarded for intellectual property rights (IPR) as Geographical Indication, with the result of that it has received geographical exclusivity.

Who has filed: Pune-based Great Mission Group Consultancy’s (GMGC’s) has filed the application on behalf of Shree Puneri Pagadi Sangh before the Geographical Indication registry, Chennai. GMGC’S is a registered firm that aims to promote intellectual property rights. Geographical Indication (GI) status has been made possible only due to the untiring research and efforts of some Pune-based law students

Which class: GI status for Puneri Pagadi has been filed in under “Class 25″, which deals with clothing, footwear and headgear products belong to handicraft good. The application for GI tag has been filed on 10 June, 2008.and it received application number 128.

History: The application claims that Mahadev Govind Ranade introduced the prevalent “Puneri Pagadi” for the first time in the 19th century. Since then, it has been worn by great leaders and personalities like Lokmanya Tilak, J S Karandikar, Dr D D Sathye, Tatyasaheb Kelkar and Dato Waman Pottdar. “Puneri Pagadi” has now become a matter of heritage.

This GI tag will legally prohibit the sell of tuban which are made in outside the Pune region and sold as the name of Puneri turban. This protection will bring economic prosperity of the producer of the good.

Silk City of India Seeking for GI Tag

Bhagdattpuram (now Bhagalpur) was one of the most influential towns in "Aryavarta" popularly known as "ANGA PREDESH" or "ANGADESH". The word “Bhagdattpuram” literally means "City of Good Luck." Bhagalpur is a city in the Bihar state of India which is situated in the plane of the Ganges basin. Bhagalpur is acclaimed the world over for its silk products and it is known in India as the "Silk City" Famous for its Tussar Silk & Tussar Saree . The city is famous worldwide for its silk and mango

The application for a GI tag for ‘Bhagalpur Silk Fabrics and Saree’s has been filed on 15^th July 2009 by The Bhagalpur Regional Handloom Weavers Cooperative Union and six other organizations before the Chennai-based Geographical Indication Registry, the competent authority under Government of India. The handicraft good with “application number 180” comes under class 24 and 25 of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. Class 24 of the Act deals with textiles and textile goods, bed and table covers while, Class 25 is for clothing, footwear and headgear. The application is now in pre - examination stage.

In Bhagalpur, there are about 30,000 handloom weavers out of which 95 % are jobseekers with 25000 handloom, the total value of the trade from Bhagalpur cluster is around Rs. 100 Crores (One billion) annually and 50 % of the turnover is from domestic market and the balance 50% is from export market . The export of Rs. 50 Crores (500 Millions) annual turnover is controlled by the exporter located in Bhagalpur Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi and the remaining Rs. 50 Crores (500 Millions) domestic turnover is controlled by the trader.

The Bhagalpur cluster possesses the second position in silk fabric production and export after the Karnataka state. The weaver service centre was established by GOI in Bhagalpur during the year 1974 for development of silk industry in Bihar. The saree’s produced in Bhagalpur are not only popular in the domestic market but also has recognition and demand in overseas market.

Once the GI tag is granted then this will legally prohibit others to sell saree’s and fabrics’ made at place other than Bhagalpur under the same brand. So, GI will be effective tool for economic empowerment of the weaver community of Bhagalpur.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_bihar-handloom-weavers-seek-geographical-indication-gi-tag_1303262

http://newsonwire.blogspot.com/2009/11/gi-status-sought-for-bhagalpur-silk.html

http://jaibihar.com/gi-tag-sought-for-bhagalpur-silk-fabrics/13523/

http://www.aseedinternational.com/silk.htm

http://www.bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2009/Oct/Newsbihar22Oct1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagalpur

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/gi-status-sought-for-bhagalpur-silk-fabricssarees/76341/on

South Africa also joins the race of protecting traditional knowledge while India takes a step ahead

After India, China, Brazil etc now it is South Africa (SA) which is joining the race of commercializing Intellectual assets. Science and technology minister of SA, Naledi Pandor is of the opinion that intellectual property protection drives innovation and also that not enough has been done to address intellectual property (IP) rights. She says piracy has had a negative effect on SA, costing the country R540 million in 2006.
The Intellectual Property Rights Act, from the Publicly Funded Research and Development Bill, was signed earlier this year to increase innovation in the public sphere. However, Pandor said more still needs to be done.
During an intellectual property rights conference, last Friday, Pandor addressed government officials, academics and business leaders. She said one of the department's priorities is to protect indigenous knowledge in order to drive innovation among local communities.

Here one should note that intellectual property does not only mean protecting new inventions but also to protect that treasure of knowledge which has been there with certain communities and has flowed in time. These communities have protected this knowledge in their own crude way but now entire globe is becoming one global village and in absence of a formal international system it would not be possible to protect that knowledge for long. This is especially a threat in this biotechnology driven era where every possible avenue of bioprospecting is being explored by advanced countries.

It is for this reason that India has also signed an agreement with US and has given them access to TKDL so that they can search the same before granting any patent. This would help prevent misappropriation of traditional knowledge through mistaken issuance of patents.

South Africa has also put forward a mechanism to protect communities. They have organized a department to incorporate the institutional mechanism; the intellectual property management offices, which will be available through the country; as well as working with communities to ensure there is the infrastructure available to them to create economic opportunity.

In spite of all the efforts there is a long way we need to go before we are in a position to boast about protection of traditional knowledge but these foundation steps are nevertheless encouraging

GOA FENI REWARDED OF G.I. CERTIFICATION

Some countries which are the member of WTO have G I for liquor as in Europe - Tequila (spirits), Jaffa (oranges) and Bordeaux (wines).Such as Tequila and Mezcal from Mexico, Scotch whiskey from the UK and Champagne from France, now in India also a liquor” GOA FENI “ registered as gi . India is a member of WTO's rules on intellectual property (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property, or TRIPS) and as of its obligations; the country has passed its own act. the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration And Protection) Act, 1999 provides for the registration and better protection of geographical indications.

Fenny is an Indian liquor made from either coconut or the juice of the cashew apple. Fenny (also FENI ) originated in GOA. The popular brands of fenny are 1 .Cashyo 2. Reals (pronounced as Reaals), 3.Big Boss’. Fenny is often used in cocktails. Three common mixers are Coca-Cola, tonic water and lemonade . The word fen meaning froth which is form during shaking or pouring liquer in bottle, froth is called FEN in local kokan language . Sattari sub-district of GOA is known as 'Fenny capital' of the region, Because of highest number of cashew stills presence in this area. (According to the Baseline Survey of the FENI Industry by Pranab Mukhopadhyay, Santosh Maurya and Suryabhan Mourya, GOA, April 2008)

History: zulejos (Portuguese ceramic tile work) inside Panjim's 175-year-old Central Library, librarian Maria de Lourdes Brava da Costa Rodrigues talks animatedly about GOA's signature drink, kaju (cashew) FENI. “The FENI story begins here with the Portuguese reaching India," she says, pointing to one of the zulejos that shows Vasco da Gama at King Zamorin's court in 1498. "The Portuguese brought cashew apple from Brazil to India in the late 16th century. FENI gained popularity in the 1970s,

Generally there are two types of FENI 1. Coconut fenny – this is made from the sap of the coconut palm 2.Cashew fenny - this is made from the fermented juice of cashew fruit is also called Kaju fenny. The liquor produced from cashew is categorized in three grades: 1.URRAC 2. CAZULAO 3. FENI.

Urrac (Arrack): first distillation product which consume neat. Its strength ranges between 14 and 16 GARO. It is often consumed with lemon or orange soda. Cazulo: second distillation product. It is moderately strong. The Cazulo can be consumed either neat or in a diluted form depending upon the constitution of the drinker. It is no longer available in market today. Fenny: third distillation product. Its strength ranges between 20 and 24 GARO . It has a long shelf life. High-grade fenny is 42% alcohol by volume.

The GOA Cashew FENI Distillers and Bottlers Association (TGCFDBA) and The Department of Science, Technology & Environment of the GOA government had jointly effort provide GI tag for FENI, which is registered under class 33, which deals with alcoholic beverages (except beers) application number 120 as date of 19 December , 2007 .under the name "FENI" which is a colorless clear liquid when matured in wooden barrels getting golden brown tint . This GI registration will protect the rights of farmers and local producers, bottler (population is estimated around 40,000) of this unique product. There are an estimated 4,000 traditional mini-distilleries or stills in GOA that make cashew FENI and about 2,200 making coconut FENI . It is also expected that GI registration will enhance its market potential .GOA produces eight lakh liters of cashew FENI annually and it is exported to US, Australia and the Middle East. The price of FENI varies from 60 to 800 rupees. The production of the cottage industry in GOA begins when the cashew fruit is harvested in February or March and the process of making FENI is complete by end of May.

The traditional method of distilling cashew fenny

1. The cashew juice is put in a big pot (called a Bhann.) Which is connected to a smaller pot (called Launni) by means of a conduit? The Launni serves as a receiver or collector

2. Juice in big pot is boiled with the help of firewood and process of vaporisation and distillation take place result in the concentrated liquid which collects in the smaller pot, the pressure in the receiver is kept in check by pouring cold water on it, typically with a wooden ladle.

3. The first stage of processing (vaporisation) is done on big fire but the later stage of distillation has to be done on slow fire to keep the pressure and heat under control.

4. The process of distilling fenny with such apparatus takes about 8 hours and is locally called Bhatti.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenny

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc /law/staff/academic/rangnekar/pg1/

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/FENI-makershigh-as-spirit-gets-gi-tag/64725/on

http://www.typosemestr.cz/GOA’s-FENI-may-get-geographical-indication-status

See the status of Application: https://www.ipindiaonline.gov.in/gi/(S(ka0wgv45owx1cjv544wa4uz4))/gisearch.aspx

Link for the Act : http://ipindia.nic.in/girindia/GI_Act.pdf

GARO: The traditional GARO used to measure the strength of CAJU FENI. Keep in mind also that GARO measures strength and not purity or quality

Cavtec- Contribution of Information Technology to IP Valuation

Today, IT and information systems are everywhere and are definitely here to stay. After contributing to almost every possible application which humans ever thought of ranging from construction to research; from accounts to rocket science; from management to organization, now IT and database systems are diverting their attention to patents, technology transfer and the like. Intellectual property is a new field and its full potential is yet to be unleashed but as of now the greatest enigma faced by IP professionals is the issue of Technology valuation, this refers not only to the value one associates with a technology but also to the fact that how much should one expect from a technology or from a patent. This is very important when one needs to make informed decisions in business about where to invest, why to invest and how to invest, especially in research. It is for this purpose that financial professionals are hired by big companies especially for patent valuation. In past few years there has been a tremendous increase in the percentage of revenues generated by intangible assets of any given organization. But the methods which are presently used for IP valuation are both coarse and are out of reach for people who have no financial background. Therefore there is a need for a platform which can be used for determining IP value with a good amount of precision and reliability. Cavtec has come up with one such platform called CAV. This is a software that has been field tested on over 100 projects since 1997 and has helped universities, businesses, and entrepreneurs develop effective IP strategies and negotiate successful agreements. It was formally launched this November; CAV was also recently showcased in LES annual meeting.
CAV is a repeatable, comprehensive approach to IP valuation. It features a step-by-step method for quantifying factors that determine a technology's competitive advantage in a given market. This is a PC based approach and its key applications include valuing early- stage technologies, negotiating patent licensing, determining venture investments, predicting IP success in marketplace, performing due diligence, calculating infringement damages etc.
CAV, patented by CAVTEC founder Ted Hagelin, is based on his extensive expertise. Hagelin is nationally recognized for IP valuation through his work as the Director of Syracuse University's Technology Commercialization Research Center and his research on intellectual property strategy and patent valuation. He teaches intellectual property and technology commercialization law at Syracuse University College of Law.
In my opinion there is lot of scope in this arena of software development for IP analytics and valuation as this not only makes life of a patent professional easier but also increases efficacy and productivity both qualitatively and quantitatively of any IP department. It is also possible to develop in house products to serve such purposes. But, at present what is most important is the fact that industry should recognize this as a vital need for IP departments and should work towards resource allocation on such projects.
Source: Reuters

Glivec Case- Are the implications deeper then what we anticipate?

Today, every individual having an average awareness is talking about the famous Glivec case. This case is regarding a patent for an anticancer drug called Glivec developed by swiss- pharma gaint Novartis. Glivec has been denied a patent by Mumbai and Chennai High courts and now the case is appealed in Supreme Court and is awaiting a Judgment. So much is the basic understanding about this case of common man. But now the question is that when Glivec will finally be denied a patent, what will be the implications? Will it impact our economy and FDI?
Daniel Vasella who is CEO of Novartis was recently in Mumbai has declared that Novartis would now be investing $1billion in China instead of India because they feel that IP protection in India is not up to the standards. He also said that “There is a significant difference between India and China - in the political system, in the decision making processes, in the complexities of the processes and in the continuity. I think India has potential but things take longer to get done. It may come as a surprise but China has made tremendous progress in IP and is enforcing IP in pharmaceuticals.” According to Mr. Vasella IP protection is the crux of pharmaceutical investments and is fundamental to pharmaceutical business.
At this point one may argue that statistics has shown that patent filings in India are increasing every year. But when we go deep into the matter we find that majority of the patent filings are done by companies who have a business base in India but are essentially supported by foreign investment, for example Monsanto, Millipore in biotechnology sector, Sony Erricson in Electronics and so on.
Business outsourcing has been one of the important revenue and employment generators for quite some time now and I dare say that this is a good option for our country as we have ample human resources and other advantages. Apart from that CRO’s are emerging in India in a big way. So, we are definitely not in a position to lose this market.
All this makes me think that these statements made by the CEO of a pharma gaint may have far reaching consequences for our country. It may be possible that nothing comes out of it but there is also another possibility where other corporate giants may also think in the same way and bend towards China rather then India. We cannot neglect the fact that it is also emerging as a big market for outsourcing research & development activities.
As of now we can only wait for Supreme Court verdict on the case which seems to have more at stake then just a patent for an anticancer drug.

MOU between DIPP and WIPO

This news item appeared on Indialawnews.com. it runs as follows:

Shri Ajay Shankar, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Dr. Francis Gurry, Director General of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation.

The objective of this MOU is to strengthen cooperation between the Government of India and the WIPO through a more active, systematic organization and conduct of joint activities with a view to promote the goal of using Intellectual Property (IP) for economic, social, cultural and technological development in India. The areas of cooperation envisaged include, assisting India in implementing its national IP and innovation strategy; empowering knowledge creators in the use of IP; building awareness on IP as a critical tool for promoting innovation and creativity through public outreach activities. The MOU also provides for cooperation between the WIPO Worldwide Academy (WMA) and the National Institute for Intellectual Property Management, Nagpur.

An IP Development Action Plan has been drawn up for 2010-2011 representing the activities identified as priority area for cooperation during the same period. The MOU will be reviewed and evaluated every two years after its entry into force.