India: what potential applicants need to know about recent examination trends and changes to Patent Rules
In summary
This article provides an overview of patent prosecution under Indian patent law. In India, patent prosecution is regulated by the Patents Act 1970. The patent prosecution process includes various steps and procedures, from filing a patent application to obtaining a grant of a patent. The whole process can be complex and time-consuming, however, understanding the various steps involved and the requirements at each stage is essential to ensuring a successful outcome.
Discussion points
- Types of patents granted in India
- Time and costs involved in getting a patent granted in India
- Types of patent applications that can be filed in India
- Examination trends and procedures that potential applicants need to know
- Procedures related to appeals against patent office decisions, oppositions and invalidations
- Recent developments in different prosecution aspects due to recent court decisions
Referenced in this article
- Ferid Allani v Union of India
- Microsoft v Assistant Controller of Patents
- Boehringer v Controller of Patents
- Syngenta v Controller of Patents and Designs
- Nippon v Controller of Patents
- Allergan v Controller of Patents
- OpenTV v Controller of Patents
Types of patents granted in India
India grants patents for inventions relating to products and processes. For products protected by a patent, the patentee has the exclusive right to prevent third parties from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing for those purposes that product in India. For a process protected by a patent, the patentee has the exclusive right to prevent third parties from using that process, and from using, offering for sale, selling or importing for those purposes the product obtained directly by that process in India. India does not have provisions for utility models (also known as petty patents).
Patents are granted for inventions across all areas of science and technology, except those relating to non-patentable subject matters in India. Under the Indian Patents Act 1970, an ‘invention’ means a new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application. A new invention is any invention or technology that has not been anticipated by publication in any document or used in the country or elsewhere in the world before the date of filing of a patent application.
The inventive step is a feature of an invention that requires having technical knowledge to complete, as opposed to basic knowledge or having economic significance, or both, and that feature makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art.
‘Capability for industrial application’ means that the invention is capable of being made or used in industry.
The following are not patentable under the Indian Patents Act 1970:
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Authors: Manisha Singh and Virender Singh