Medical Cannabis Legalization and Patent Trends in Thailand

By Whipaphat S. Trossel In Thailand, cannabis is legal for personal use in private areas but prohibited in public areas. Recreational use of cannabis has been decriminalized since 2022. Since legalization, over 1.1 million Thai people have registered for licenses to grow cannabis and the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTTAM) has issued […]

COVID-19 Pandemic: IP Issues & Challenges

By P. Kandiah While the COVID-19 pandemic enrages the world, there are frantic efforts to produce effective and safe vaccines, to invent covid detection methods and kits, and to find cures for the potentially fatal sickness around the world.

World-Changing Women Wonders

By Sharrmila Palanyandy The field of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is often male-dominated and studies show that women remain underrepresented in this field. But despite the lack of recognition in the scientific community and challenges faced due to the gender gap, there are countless inspiring women in these fields who have made historic […]

COVID-19 Vaccines & Treatments: Who Owns the Rights?

By P. Kandiah and Geetha Kandiah Moderna Inc., Sanofi, AstraZeneca plc, Roche, Gilead Sciences and Novartis are just some of the many pharmaceutical companies working to fast-track the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Many companies and research institutions from various countries are racing to develop the vaccine for COVID-19.

Filing a patent on the Coronavirus?

By P. Kandiah   Did you know that as early as 23 July 2014, patent applications on the coronavirus were already filed? This patent was filed in the UK and subsequently, a corresponding patent was granted in the US on 20 November 2018 under patent grant no. US 10,130701 B2. The Patentee of the US […]

Patenting Biotechnology Inventions

By P. Kandiah & Sharrmila Palanyandy In recent years, research and development in biotechnology field, especially in medicine and agricultural biotechnology is emerging rapidly. Researchers are encouraged to patent their inventions in order to commercialise their inventions and enjoy the benefits obtained thereafter. Mostly, biotechnology inventions are associated with materials present in nature which require […]

RNAi and Related Patentability Issues

By P. Kandiah & Sharrmila Palanyandy RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionally highly conserved process of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGs) by which double-stranded RNA (ds RNA) causes sequence-specific degradation of mRNA sequences. RNAi is a biological process in which RNA molecules inhibit gene expression, typically by causing the destruction of specific mRNA molecules. RNAi technology […]