Mar 8, 2023 | IPR & Business
What is ageing?
How does the sequence of life appear in a person over time?
Is there any external influence that controls our biological clock?
If so, how does our biological clock determine relationship of time in our physical world?
The Sense of time and its relationship to celestial events are well documented in our history. It is a wonder that our ancestors were able to come up with precise calculation of a year, including the leap year, which takes care of timing of revolution of mother Earth around our star, the Sun. The speed of revolution and rotation are constant and would remain so for the next 5 billion years to come, the remaining life span of Sun.
Year after year, the seasons change and we witness the marvel of Nature. The whole life system on earth responds to these changes appropriately. The axial tilt in the Earth’s axis and its revolution around the year are the main reasons for these seasonal changes that we see. In physical form, it is the duration and intensity of Sun light (with its heat energy) that brings about these variations on Earth.
It is not just photosynthesis – a mechanism by which the plant life harnesses the solar energy and convert them into organic energy / fuel. In animal kingdom, the Sun influences the diurnal cycle (day and night variations in body) and the seasonal cycles that directly influences ageing.
We see the world through our eyes. The light is conveyed through our retina (within the eyeball) to the rear end of the brain -the occipital lobes, through the optic nerves (the second cranial nerve). Here, the light and images are captured, are interpreted and associated with meaning. This is the visual pathway. The vision of timing of nature is also conveyed to the brain, through an interesting circuit, the lesser known – supra-optic pathway, which are nerves from the retina reaching the third eye – the Pineal Gland!
The third eye is often associated with religious visions, the ability to observe chakras and auras. In Taoism, Chinese religious sects such as Chan and Zen.
in Japanese, “third eye training” involves focusing attention on the point between the eyebrows with the eyes closed. In Hindu mythology, the third eye of Lord Shiva, though is described in forehead(by most) is also described by few to be actually located in the rear of the head, an analogy to pineal gland (Ref: https://blavatskytheosophy.com/the-third-eye-and-the-pineal-gland/).
I am not giving a neurosurgeon’s perspective of the third eye, rather, it’s a proven fact in medical science. The third eye does exist and gives the vision of life for the individual. The pineal gland, located in the third ventricle of the brain (at the rear portion of brain) is the anatomical third eye of the body. The light rays when reach our pineal gland, convey information of the average length of day (exposure to light), which over a period of time is interpreted as seasons. It secretes Melatonin in absence of light. A chemical indication of day night cycle within our body is set here.
The pineal gland in close association with the hypothalamus and pituitary gland sets the circadian rhythm of life. Which is the daily variations in our body with respect to day / night cycle, our timing of sleep & activity and energy needs. Through the influence on all hormones of the body, they together bring about short and long term changes in the body mechanism ultimately controlling the growth and ageing in a person.
The past decade of research has converged on an understanding that in many or perhaps even most instances, causality with respect to disease, disorders, and maladaptive development—as well as the preservation of health and maintenance of normative, adaptive development—is best viewed as an interplay between genome-based biology and environmental exposures. This understanding represents a clear departure from the historical views that human morbidities are attributable to either pathogenic environments or faulty genes.
Growth and ageing are natural. There are genetic codes set in a given individual, but are influenced significantly by the environmental factors. Healthy environment is not easy to find, thanks to mindless development that is happening around the world. Our quality of food, air and water are going to only deteriorate with time. Our lifestyle and stress further adds to these worries. Wellness is the concept which all of us should work towards, the best investment that we can do for ourselves.
Biological clock
The third eye is real, and its disturbance is now experienced by most of the population as lifestyle disorders. The biological clock has been re-set in all of us, probably due to over exposure to artificial light, more so with the advent of computers and smart phones. Early puberty, obesity, infertility, insomnia (lack of sleep) and early physical changes of ageing are quite common nowadays.
We cannot go back to the dark ages, however, we can make an attempt to follow a routine in life. With balance of work, activity and adequate sleep, we can at-least work towards the remedial measures.
Adequate physical activity & exercise, avoidance of coffee/tea after 4pm and early dinner can contribute to peaceful sleep. Of course, this is possible only when we can take our minds off our TV and phone! For people working on shifts/ night duty, it is an occupational hazard. They have to find ways not to miss their 6 to 7 hours of sleep.
To age graceful and lead a healthy life, one has to take efforts to combat stress and live a healthy lifestyle. Importance of sleep cannot be over emphasized. Sleep is essential for not only resting the body and mind, but to give the right sense of timing to our biological clock – the third eye.
Author: Dr Murali Mohan
Director of Neurosciences at People Tree group of Hospitals; Director at Dr Klinisch Research Pvt Ltd; Managing Director at Synapse Health Centre LLP; Founder & Managing Director at Radarc Medical Innovations Pvt Ltd
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Mar 7, 2023 | Indian Patents Act 1970, Key Terms of Patents Act
The term Post-Dating with respect to Patent law means shifting date of filing patent application to the later date. There are specific reasons for which the applicant desires to post-date the patent application. Provision of post-dating a patent application is available in other countries like New Zealand and United Kingdom. However, the US patent law does not have any provision for post-dating of patent application.
In Indian Patents Act 1970, there is a mention of post-dating in Section 9 [Provisional and Complete specifications] and Section 17 [Power of Controller to make orders respecting dating of application].
Applicant can request the Controller to post-date the application under Section-9, after filing & before the grant of the patent. The date of post-date shall be specified, and the Controller may direct that the application shall be post-dated. Such post date shall not be requested or made for a date later than 6 months from the date on which it was actually made or would, but for the provisions of this sub-section, be deemed to have been made. Applicant shall file complete specifications within 12 month of filing provisional application. On the request of applicant, the Controller may cancel the provisional specification and post-date the application to the date of filing of the complete specification.
Illustration
Date of filing Provisional application: 5th June 2009
Date of filing Complete application: 15th October 2009
By postdating under section 9, Priority date could be shifted to 15th October 2009
Postdating can’t be requested beyond 6 months from date of filing
In Standipack Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Oswal Trading Co. Ltd. (AIR 2000 Delhi 23, 80 (1999), wherein the judge while considering the provisions of postdating clearly stated in paragraph 8 it was held that the postdating of the patent can be done only to the date of filing of the complete specifications. Where a complete specification has been filed in pursuance of an application for a patent accompanied by a provisional specification or by a specification treated by virtue of a direction under sub-section (3) as a provisional specification, the Controller may, if the applicant so requests at any time before [grant of patent], cancel the provisional specification and post-date the application to the date of filing of the complete specification.
U/S 17 [Power of Controller to make orders respecting dating of application], the application for patent may be post-dated to a date not later than six months from the date of application on a request made by the applicant at any time before the grant of patent along with the prescribed fee as given in first schedule. However, this provision will not apply if the application is deemed to be abandoned.
Illustration
Date of filing application: 5th June 2009
Postdating can’t be requested beyond 5th December 2009 (6 months from date of filing)
There is no specific form for post-dating the application and hence the request for post-dating can be filed through Form-30 to post-date the application.
Applicant may be required to post-date the application under specific circumstances. If the applicant has filed provisional application, within 12 months the complete application shall be filed, else, the application shall be deemed to be abandoned. However, if the information to file complete application is not ready or there is some financial crisis, the applicant can post-date the application to the maximum time of 6 months and this helps him to extend his deadline to file complete application. It is interesting to note here that the post dating as an option can be availed to post-date the date of filing complete application also if the applicant claims priority date by filing complete application. This may give extra time to file PCT application, if needed.
Even though post dating is helpful for the applicant in few circumstances, it could be very risky at times. After filing patent application, if the applicant has disclosed the invention in public by in any way, followed by post-dating of the application, this might destroy novelty of the invention. Therefore, the applicant shall opt for post-dating the application after calculating the risk.
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Mar 7, 2023 | Indian Patents Act 1970, Key Terms of Patents Act
A plaintiff, also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court. Plaintiff seeks a legal remedy, and if successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order like an order for damages.
A defendant is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a statute.
In a well-known case, Apple Inc vs VirnetX, relating to FaceTime video calling service, VirnetX sued Apple Inc for infringement of four patents of VirnetX used in its FaceTime video calling service (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,502,135, 7,418,504, 7,921,211 and 7,490,151). Apple was ordered to pay US$368.2 million in damages to VirnetX.
In this case, VirnetX initiatied law suit against Apple Inc for infringement of patents and hence VirnetX is a Plaintiff, whereas Apple Inc is a Defendant.
Following are the important sections of the Patent Act, where the terms Plaintiff and Defendant have been used:
U/S 104A [Burden of proof in case of suits concerning infringement]
Infringement in simple words is violation of rights of a patent holder. In any suit for infringement of a patent, plaintiff (Patentee) has burden of proof and this is specifically for the product patent where a patentee can compare infringed product with his patent claims and assess extent of infringement.
However, where the subject matter of patent is a process for obtaining a new product and the patentee could not establish through reasonable efforts to determine the process actually used by the infringer, the court may direct the defendant to prove that the process used by him to obtain the product, identical to the product of the patented process, is different from the patented process. Hence, in case of process patent infringement, burden of proof shifts from plaintiff to the defendant.
U/S 107 [Defenses, etc., in suits for infringement]
When a law-suit is filed by the plaintiff for infringement of his patent rights, the defendant shall defend himself and prove that he is not infringing rights of the plaintiff. All the grounds of revocation U/S 64 can be used as defense by the defendant.
U/S 109 [Right of exclusive licensee to take proceedings against infringement]
In any suit for infringement of a patent by an exclusive licensee, if the patentee does not join as plaintiff, he is added as a defendant, but a patentee so added as defendant shall not be liable for any costs unless he enters an appearance and takes part in the proceedings.
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Mar 7, 2023 | Indian Patents Act 1970, Key Terms of Patents Act, Patent
Bolar exception is one of the exceptional acts where the use of patented invention without consent of the patentee doesn’t constitute infringement.
U/S 107A [Certain acts not to be considered as infringement] of Indian Patents Act 1970, any act of making, constructing, using, selling or importing a patented invention solely for uses reasonably related to the development and submission of information required under any law for the time being in force, in India, or in a country other than India, that regulates the manufacture, construction, use, sale or import of any product.
Some countries allow manufacturers of generic drugs to use the patented inventions for development and submission of information required under law. For example, from public health authorities, without the patent owner’s permission and before the patent protection expires. The generic producers can then market their version as soon as the patent expires. This provision is called “Bolar Exceptions” or “regulatory exception”.
Case-Study: Roche Products v. Bolar Pharmaceutical
This is a landmark case in the United States related to the manufacturing of generic pharmaceuticals. Bolar was a generic drug manufacturer and Roche was a brand-name pharmaceutical company which made and sold Valium, the active ingredient of which was protected by patent. Before patent expiration, Bolar used the patented chemical in experiments to determine, if its generic product was bioequivalent to Valium in order to obtain FDA approval for its generic version of Valium. Bolar argued that its use of the patented product was not infringement under the experimental use exception to the patent law.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected Bolar’s contention holding that the experimental use exception did not apply because Bolar intended to sell its generic product in competition with Roche’s Valium after patent expiration and, therefore, Bolar’s experiments had a business purpose. Bolar also argued that public policy in favor of availability of generic drugs immediately following patent expiration justified the experimental use of the patented chemical because denying such use would extend Roche’s monopoly beyond the date of patent expiration.
The court rejected this argument, stating that such policy decisions should be made by congress. Likewise, the court decided that apparent policy conflicts between statutes such as the Food and Drug Act and the Patent Act should be decided by congress and not the courts. Shortly after Roche v Bolar was decided, congress did pass a law permitting use of patented products in experiments for the purpose of obtaining FDA approval, which established the modern system for FDA approval of generic drugs.
Watch Video HERE (Bolar Exceptions- Term 8)
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Mar 7, 2023 | Indian Patents Act 1970, IPR & Business
FTO search, also known as a “clearance search” or “right to use” search, is a kind of search commonly performed to assess patent infringement risk upon new product launch. FTO analysis can save companies from many legal disputes, when it is done in advance, specifically, before launch of the new product. Patent filing is increasing globally and before any new product is manufactured, launched or sold in the market, it is important to thoroughly check the existing patents to be sure that none of the product components infringes upon or encroaches upon claims of any existing patents in a specific jurisdiction.
Before we understand relevance of FTO search, it is important to understand meaning of Patent infringement, which, in simple words means violation of patent rights in the country or jurisdiction where the patent has been granted. When a patent is granted, the patentee gets the right to prevent third party (ies) from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the patented product in the country where there is patent protection. Patent infringement happens when any third party, makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, or even imports a product or process claimed in the patent, without consent of the patent holder.
Purpose of FTO search is to assess the likelihood of patent infringement upon launch of new product in a specific country. The best time to do FTO search is at the time of designing the new product because its is easier to make changes in the product specifications and the infringement risk can be minimised or nullified easily at early stage of product development.
FTO search is performed by extracting all relevant patents in a specific country or jurisdiction where the product is to be manufactured or sold. Unlike patentability search, FTO search is limited to patents that are ‘in-force’ i.e. active and does not include patents which are abandoned or expired. However sometimes, looking into abandoned or expired patents also gives important insights and hence it is worth going through such patents quickly. Further, the FTO search is not confined to granted patents, but also includes patent applications because such patent applications may be granted in due course of time and may become a hurdle at the time of product launch. It is also required to keep track of patent applications periodically to track if they get granted or not.
FTO search is a very specialised investigation and analysis of patent documents, done by a skilled attorney, who possesses a good working knowledge of technology as well as law. The final opinion on infringement shall always be rendered by an advocate according to the laws of the jurisdiction. Generally, following steps are taken up to perform FTO analysis:
Steps to perform FTO search are as below:
Step 1: Product for which FTO has to be performed shall be segregated into finer components because there may be patents of other companies for such components and hence extracting patents for all components is important.
Step 2: Nomenclature of all components, as generally used in the industry, shall be listed sothat it is easy to formulate key words for the search as search shall be performed for each and every component.
Step 3: Patent search shall be performed for each component of the product with a timeline of around 22 years in the specific country for which FTO is required to be performed. For example, if the product is to be launched only in India, patent search may be confined to India. However, it is recommended to search in Patentscope database of WIPO also because there may be existing patent applications that might enter India at the time of PCT-national phase filing.
Step 4: Results of prior art search shall be categorised into In-force, Expired, lapsed, Abandoned patents and patent applications. For FTO search, “In-force patents” are most critical to be analysed. Additionally, monitoring “lapsed patents” from time to time is very important because they have a chance to be restored and become active again.
Step 5: Claims of patents, shortlisted in step 4 shall be compared with the product to be launched and claim charts shall be prepared for easy understanding of the extent of overlap. Claim charts give clarity on extent of overlap between product components and patent claims,
Step 6: Based on results of first 5 steps and claim charts, opinion on patent infringement shall be written based on laws of the country where the product is going to be launched. FTO report shall preferably be signed by an advocate.
VirnetX is an internet security software and technology company based in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. This company’s patent portfolio includes American and international patents in areas such as DNS and network communication. Since 2010, VirnetX has been involved in litigation with big companies like Apple, Cisco, Microsoft, etc. In December 2014, Microsoft and VirnetX settled patent disputes over Skype technology for $23 million. VirnetX, in another law suit with Apple was awarded $368 million in damages for FaceTime infringement.
FTO search is highly recommended to be performed by the companies before new product launch sothat patent infringement risk can be assessed and timely steps could be taken to mitigate it.
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Origiin, with a skilled team of patent agents is one of the best patent companies in India offering patent services like, patent searching and patent filing in India and foreign countries. We perform Freedom to operate analysis for all kinds of technology-based products as well as for the drugs for Para IV certification. We provide detailed jurisdiction based FTO report along with bypass options to help companies operate in safe manner by minimizing or mitigating IP or patent infringement risk.
Deliverables: FTO report with opinion on patent infringement risk in PDF, claim charts along with PDF copy of all prior arts listed in the report
Timeline: 8-10 business days
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