AURO UNIVERSITY

MBA 2014-16Semester - 2, Block - 4End TermLegal Aspects of Business

Duration: 2 hours Total Marks: 60Weightage:50%

Instructions:-

Please mention relevant cases/examples in support of your answers.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theory

Part A

Fill in the blanks (2 marks each) (20Marks)

1. Schedule ____ is regarding CSR under Companies Act, 2013.(7)2. Every director needs to apply for ______ who wishes to be director.3. Darjeeling Tea, Scotch whisky, TirupatiLaddu are protected under _________________. (First Regi GI in India)(Himachal Pradesh))4. FSSAI stands for _______________.food safety n standard act 20065. Trademark is valid for _____ years.6. PIL stands for ___________.(public interest litigation)7. FIPB stands for ____________(foreign investment promotion board)8. TRIPS stands for _________(trade related aspects of intellectual property rights )9. ____________ mark is not registered but being used for long time and established itself as a strong brand.(Well known mark)10. Veets S shaped spatula is regarding ____________ Act.(design act 2000)

Part B

Importance of Intellectual Property Rights for Business.Discuss some of the IPRs and with examples. (10 Marks)

MeaningIPR are the legally recognized exclusive rights to creation of the mind. Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.Its an intangible assetY do u protect IP1)Company Value:IP or Intangible assets are responsible for over 75% of the Company Value in Fortune 500 firms2) Entry Barriers:IP Rights help a business to generate entry barriers, capturing the value one creates to consumers, in a given market.3) Legal Monopoly:A Patent is a reward to the inventiveness and creativity of an inventor, which price is a legal monopoly to commercially use your creation for 20 years4) Advance of Man Kind:In exchange to a Patent Right, and inventor gives back to the public his knowledge, to be shared and used for further improvement and the advance of mankind5) Goodwill:A name or brand conveys all the goodwill of your product or service; A Trademark holds that Goodwill and leads consumers to your original product or service6) Avoid Freeriding:Competitors could free ride on unprotected successful brands, attracting your original consumers to their non-original products or services7) Financial Leverage & Monetizing:One could monetized and IP asset in several ways. An IP right owner could license his rights to 3er parties, growing his business internationally, generate franchises, transfer those rights and even leverage bank loans, using their IP rights as collaterals.8) Counterfeiting:A novel and attractive product could be copied, produced and commercialized as an imitation or counterfeit of the original product. IP Rights help you stops those counterfeited product at the boarder by means of effective customs legal actions, based in those original IP rights.9) Works or Art:Creative artist and other professional could create works of art and share his creating with the world worry-free. He will be sure to be recognize as the creator and he and his successors will enjoy the financial benefits of potential royalties deriving from that creation.10) Avoid Infringement:Even though one chooses not to protect his product or service, that product / service name and or technology, could be infringing some elses IP Right, which could end in law suits and the payment of heavy damages to the other party.Some IPRSPatents (The Patents Act, 1970) :- ThePatent Act of 1790was the first patent statute passed by the federal government of theUnited States. It was enacted on April 10, 1790, about one year after the constitution was ratified and a new government was organized. The law was concise, defining the subject matter of a U.S. patent as any useful art, manufacture, engine, machine, or device, or any improvement thereon not before known or used.[1]It granted the applicant the "sole and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using and vending to others to be used" of his invention.CopyrightsCopyright can be given for followingsCopyright is not given to idea but to expression of idea1. Original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work;2. A cinematograph film3. A sound recordingApplication to be made to Registrar of Copyrights at New DelhiTerm of copyright is 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies. In co-author death of last author. For other it is also 60 years.Compulsory License can be given under Section 31

Cases

Case 1 (10Marks)

Lee was a pilot. He formed a company styled Lees Air Farming Ltd. Lee virtually owned all the shares and he was sole governing director. The co. appointed Lee as the chief pilot. The company had insured for liability under the Workmens Compensation Act. Lee was killed in air accident. The widow of Lee claimed compensation from the insurer.

Whether Lee could be regarded as a worker? Can widow of Lee succeed in claim?Yes/No. Give the reasons. Which is the principal underlying?

Case 2(10Marks)

Discuss Bhopal Gas Tragedy case with reference to Corporate Governance.

Case 3(10 Marks)

Critically discuss Novartis Caseon Compulsory Licensing.

The judgment allows suppliers to continue making generic copies of Swiss firm Novartis Glivec or Gleevec (brand name of Imatinib), which has been shown to fight chronic blood cancer effectively. While the Novartis drug costs more than Rs 1 lakh per month, with doctors often advising patients to take it lifelong, the generic equivalents cost less than one-tenth. For incremental change patent can not be given. A patent can not be granted for substantial improvementThe ruling would be a relief to some 300,000 patients in India currently taking the drug.In 1993, during the time India did not allow patents on products, Novartis had patented imatinib, withsaltsvaguely specified, in many countries but could not patent it in India. The key differences between the two patent applications, were that the 1998 patent application specified thecounterion(Gleevec is a specific salt - imatinib mesylate) while the 1993 patent application did not claim any specific salts nor did it mention mesylate, and the 1998 patent application specified the solid form of Gleevec - the way the individual molecules are packed together into a solid when thedrug itselfis manufactured (this is separate from processes by which the drug itself isformulatedinto pills or capsules) - while the 1993 patent application did not. The solid form of imatinib mesylate in Gleevec is beta crystalline.As provided under the TRIPS agreement, Novartis applied for Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMR) for Gleevec from the Indian Patent Office and the EMR were granted in November 2003. Novartis made use of the EMR to obtain orders against some generic manufacturers who had already launched Gleevec in India. Novartis set the price of Gleevec at USD 2666 per patient per month; generic companies were selling their versions at USD 177 to 266 per patient per month. Novartis also initiated a program to assist patients who could not afford its version of the drug, concurrent with its product launch.When examination of Novartis' patent application began in 2005, it came under immediate attack fromoppositionsinitiated by generic companies that were already selling Gleevec in India and by advocacy groups. The application was rejected by the patent office and by an appeal board. The key basis for the rejection was the part of Indian patent law that was created by amendment in 2005, describing the patentability of new uses for known drugs and modifications of known drugs. That section, Paragraph 3d, specified that such inventions are patentable only if "they differ significantly in properties with regard to efficacy." At one point, Novartis went to court to try to invalidate Paragraph 3d; it argued that the provision was unconstitutionally vague and that it violated TRIPS. Novartis lost that case and did not appeal. Novartis did appeal the rejection by the patent office to India's Supreme Court, which took the case.

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All the Best

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