1. What is a Patent?
A Patent is a statutory right for an invention granted for a limited period of time to the patentee by the Government, in exchange of full disclosure of his invention for excluding others, from making, using, selling, importing the patented product or process for producing that product for those purposes without his consent.
2. What is the term of a patent in the Indian system?
The term of every patent granted is 20 years from the date of filing of application. However, for application filed under national phase under Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the term of patent will be 20 years from the international filing date accorded under PCT.
3. Which Act governs the patent system in India?
The patent system in India is governed by the Patents Act, 1970 (No.39 of 1970) as amended by the
Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 and the Patents Rules, 2003. The Patent Rules are regularly amended in consonance with the changing environment, most recent being in 2016.
4. Does Indian Patent give protection worldwide?
No. Patent protection is a territorial right and therefore it is effective only within the territory of India. There is no concept of global patent.
However, filing an application in India enables the applicant to file a corresponding application for same invention in convention countries or under PCT, within or before expiry of twelve months from the filing date in India. Patents should be obtained in each country where the applicant requires protection of his invention.
5. What can be patented?
An invention relating either to a product or process that is new, involving inventive step and capable of industrial application can be patented. However, it must not fall into the categories of inventions that are non- patentable under sections 3 and 4 of the Act.
6. What are the criteria of patentability?
An invention is patentable subject matter if it meets the following criteria –
i) It should be novel.
ii) It should have inventive step or it must be non-obvious iii) It should be capable of Industrial application.
iv) It should not attract the provisions of section 3 and 4 of the Patents Act 1970.
7. What types of inventions are not patentable in India?
An invention may satisfy the condition of novelty, inventiveness and usefulness but it may not qualify for a patent under the following situations:
1) an invention which is frivolous or which claims anything obviously contrary to well established natural laws;
2) an invention the primary or intended use or commercial exploitation of which could be contrary to public order or morality or which causes serious prejudice to human , animal or plant life or health or to the environment;
3) the mere discovery of scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory or discovery of any living thing or non-living substance occurring in nature;
4) the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant;
Explanation: For the purposes of this clause, salts, esters, ethers, polymorphs, metabolites, pure form, particle size, isomers, mixtures of isomers, complexes, combinations and other derivatives of known substance shall be considered to be the same substance, unless they differ significantly in properties with regards to efficacy;
5) a substance obtained by mere admixture resulting only in the aggregation of the properties of the components thereof or a process for producing such substance;
6) the mere arrangement or re-arrangement or duplication of known devices each functioning independently of one another in a known way;
7) a method of agriculture or horticulture;
8) any process for medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic (diagnostic, therapeutic) or other treatment of human beings or any process for a similar treatment of animals to render them free of disease or to increase their economic value or that of their products;
9) plants and animals in whole or any part thereof other than microorganisms but including seeds, varieties and species and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of plants and animals;
10) a mathematical or business method or a computer program per se or algorithms;
11) a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation whatsoever including cinematographic works and television productions;
12) a mere scheme or rule or method of performing mental act or method of playing game; 13) a presentation of information;
14) topography of integrated circuits;
15) an invention which, in effect, is traditional knowledge or which is an aggregation or duplication of known properties of traditionally known component or components;
16) inventions relating to atomic energy;
8. When should an application for a patent be filed?
An application for a patent can be filed at the earliest possible date and should not be delayed. An application filed with provisional specification, disclosing the essence of the nature of the invention helps to register the priority of the invention. Delay in filing an application may entail some risks such as (i) some other inventor might file a patent application on the said invention and (ii) there may be either an inadvertent publication of the invention by the inventor himself/herself or by others independently of him/her.
9. Can any invention be patented after publication or display in the public exhibition?
Generally, an invention which has been either published or publicly displayed cannot be patented as such publication or public display leads to lack of novelty. However, under certain circumstances, the Patents Act provides a grace period of 12 months for filing of patent application from the date of its publication in a journal or its public display in an exhibition organized by the Government or disclosure before any learned society or published by applicant. The detailed conditions are provided under Chapter VI of the Act (Section 29-34).
10. Does the Patent Office keep information of the invention secret?
Yes. All the patent applications are kept secret up to 18 months from the date of filing or priority date whichever is earlier and thereafter they are published in the Official Journal of the Patent Office which is published every week and also available on the IPO website. After its publication, public can inspect the documents and also may take the photocopy thereof on payment of the fee as prescribed.
Do you want to protect your invention with Patent registration and want to know about Patent registration process in India? If the answer is yes, then why wait? Advo e-Works will help you with your Patent registration. Reach us at (+91) 949 106 2020 or email info@advoeworks.com.
Disclaimer: The materials provided herein are solely for information purposes. No attorney-client relationship is created when you access or use the site or the materials. The information presented on this blog does not constitute legal or professional advice and should not be relied upon for such purposes or used as a substitute for legal advice from an attorney licensed in your state.
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