Patents grants exclusive rights to inventors, encouraging innovation and economic development.
A patent is a statutory and territorial intellectual property right that grants the owner exclusive rights over an invention. To be eligible for a patent, an invention must meet three criteria:
The purpose of granting a patents is to incentivize innovation by offering the inventor a time-limited monopoly, allowing them to commercialize and exploit the invention in exchange for disclosing its details to the public.
Under the Indian Patent Act, patent owners are entitled to the following rights:
These exclusive rights are granted for 20 years, providing the patentee with the opportunity to benefit from their innovation while fostering broader technological advancement.
The Indian Patent Act confers the following rights upon the Patent owner:
For a product Patent, the exclusive right to prevent third parties, who do not have the Patent owner’s consent, from the act of making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the product in India.
For a process Patent, the exclusive right to prevent third parties, who do not have the Patent owner’s consent, from the act of using that process, and from the act of using, offering for sale, selling or importing a product directly obtained by that process in India.
A Patent granted to a patentee shall confer upon such person/entity exclusive rights for a period of 20 years.
Gunjan was admitted to the Bar in 1999. She briefly worked at a couple of law firms prior to founding the firm ZeusIP Advocates in 2004….
Naveen is a practicing Patent Attorney in India. He is qualified Mechanical Engineer and an advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi….
Naqeeb started his legal career in 2003 practicing in the Delhi High Court and Jammu & Kashmir High Court with leading litigating lawyers…
A patent is an exclusive statutory and territorial right granted by the government to an inventor or applicant for an invention that is new, non-obvious, and industrially applicable.
In India, a patent application may be filed via three routes:
- Ordinary,
- Convention, and
- PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty).
Ordinary Application: involves drafting and filing a patent application, either as a provisional or complete specification, followed by publication 18 months post-filing. An examination must be requested within 31 months of filing, with subsequent responses to any objections for a patent to be granted.
Convention Application: Under the Paris Convention, a patent application in India is to be filed within 12 months of the initial application in the convention country, claiming priority from the earlier filing. The process involves submitting a complete specification, followed by similar publication, examination, and grant steps as in the ordinary application.
PCT Application: the process starts with filing a PCT application, generally within 12 months of the first application. This is followed by receiving an International Search Report and entering the national phase in India within 31 months of the priority date. The application undergoes an examination similar to the ordinary patent application process.
Each route necessitates the filing of forms (Power of Attorney, Proof of Right (Assignment from the inventor(s) to the applicant(s)), priority document, translations) and adherence to timelines.
Yes, every Patent Application in India undergoes examination. For this, a request for examination has to be made within 31 months from the date of the application's earliest priority.
Once the request for examination is filed, the Indian Patent Office (IPO) conducts a substantive examination of each Patent application. It issues a First Examination Report (FER) to ascertain the invention's novelty, inventive step/non-obviousness and industrial applicability. IPO may raise objections concerning formal requirements as well. The timeline for responding to FER is within six (6) months from the date of issuance of the FER.
The IPO may issue a second examination report or a hearing notice to resolve the outstanding objections if required.
A patentability search is a preliminary step in the patent application process, involving a detailed search and analysis of existing patents and non-patent documents available in the public domain to determine if an invention is new and non-obvious. This search helps assess whether an invention meets the essential criteria for patentability: novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability. Conducting such a search is crucial for several reasons. It aids inventors in refining their inventions to enhance uniqueness and helps manage resources by determining if the patent pursuit is likely to succeed. The insights gained can also guide strategic business decisions, such as technology development and market positioning, while supporting preparing a robust patent application with well-defined claims. Ultimately, a patentability search mitigates the risk and ensures a strategic approach to patent filing.
For instance, if a person residing in India (when the invention was conceived) wants to file a patent application outside of India without filing a patent application in India, they must obtain foreign filing permission from the Indian Patent Office. To obtain the foreign filing permission, a request with a description of the invention and its key aspects is filed with the Indian Patent Office. Typically, such permission is obtained within 21 days of filing the request.
Alternatively, a person residing in India can file an Indian Patent Application and wait for six weeks before filing a patent application outside India.
A patent must be maintained by paying renewal/maintenance fees yearly for each granted patent. Additionally, every patentee and licensee must submit a statement of the working of each granted patent, specifying whether the patented invention has been commercialized/worked or not in that financial year.
A patents is an exclusive statutory right granted by the government to an inventor or applicant for an invention that is new, non-obvious, and industrially applicable.
In India, a patent application may be filed via three routes:
1. Ordinary,
2. Convention, and
3. PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty).
Ordinary Application involves drafting and filing a patent application, either as a provisional or complete specification, followed by publication 18 months post-filing. An examination must be requested within 31 months of filing, with subsequent responses to any objections for a patent to be granted.
Convention Application: Under the Paris Convention, a patent application in India is to be filed within 12 months of the initial application in the convention country, claiming priority from the earlier filing. The process involves submitting a complete specification, followed by similar publication, examination, and grant steps as in the ordinary application.
PCT Application: the process starts with filing a PCT application, generally within 12 months of the first application. This is followed by receiving an International Search Report and entering the national phase in India within 31 months of the priority date. The application undergoes an examination similar to the ordinary patent application process.
Each route necessitates the filing of forms (Power of Attorney, Proof of Right (Assignment from the inventor(s) to the applicant(s)), priority document, translations) and adherence to timelines.
Yes, every Patent Application in India undergoes examination. For this, a request for examination has to be made within 31 months from the date of earliest priority of the application.
Once the request for examination is filed, the Indian Patent Office (IPO) conducts a substantive examination of each Patent application and issues a First Examination Report (FER) to ascertain the novelty, inventive step/non-obviousness and industrial applicability of the invention. IPO may raise objections concerning formal requirements as well. The timeline for responding to FER is within six (6) months from the date of issuance of the FER.
If required, the IPO may issue a second examination report or a hearing notice to resolve the outstanding objections in the matter.
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Patent grants exclusive invention rights to its legal owner.
Patent grants exclusive invention rights to its legal owner.
Copyright grants exclusive reproduction rights for creative works temporarily.
Designs Act, 2000: Visual features judged by an article's appearance.
PPV & FR Act established Authority in 2005 enactment.
Geographical Indications show goods' origin, qualities, and reputation.
Intellectual Property (IP) litigation involves legal disputes over patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Patent is a statutory Intellectual Property Right which grants exclusive rights to the owner of an invention.
A trademark is a unique symbol representing goods or services, distinguishing them from others.
Copyright grants exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and perform creative works for a limited time.
According to the Designs Act, 2000, a design pertains to the visual features of an article judged solely by appearance.
Intellectual Property (IP) litigation involves legal disputes over patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Geographical Indications denote goods' origin, showcasing qualities and reputation attributed to their specific locale.
The PPV & FR Act established the Authority in 2005, following its enactment in 2001.