Top Companies India

The phenomenal growth of 'Top Companies India' can be attributed to political will, financial reforms, usage of more technology, young and English speaking
nation. With 7-8 % of Annual GDP growth rate India is the one of the fastest growing economy.

Over the last decade and half the meteorite rise of companies like Reliance Industries, ONGC, Infosys, SBI Group, IOC, NTPC, ICICI Banks, TATA Group etc. as the
'Top Company List in India' has propelled India's economic growth. Top Companies India prioritized customer's need and speedy service, which has further fueled
competition amongst same industry players. This healthy competition has benefited the end consumers, since the cost of service or products has come down
substantially. B grade companies are also offering lucrative and competitively priced products or service, whose quality is at par with A grade companies. Big brothers
of markets have been forced to lower their prices to remain in the list of 'Top Company in India'. Further, the so called 'Best Companies in India' to stay ahead in
the race of 'market supremacy' are offering mouth watering benefits in the form of gifts, rebates and even holding lucky draws. Gone are the days when 'brand
loyalty, accounted for big customer base. Today, customers are trendy, flexible and are extremely mobile within their choice pool. 'Top Companies India' are
innovating new products, services and schemes to lure consumers and extend their market-life. Aggressive Mergers and Acquisitions, collaborations and licensing
have become a popular and effective way to be alive in the race for 'Best Indian Companies'.

'Innovation' has become the main mantra for survival for 'Top 10 Companies India' and this is also true for the second and third grade companies. It catalyzes
revenue growth by introducing more advanced products into the market. Steady growth of each and every grade and type of companies has sent a sense of urgency
and insecurity amongst them. Defensive methods of protection against competitors are also becoming popular. Filing of Patents, Trade Marks, Industrial Designs and
Copyrights has increased many folds and so is infringement litigations. Good work ethics, professionalism and transparency of accounts are some of the parameters
which previously did not commanded much importance has become ultimate parameters for the new generation 'Top India Companies'.

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Page Conten

Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia

This is a list of major companies based in India. Please note that the list is highly incomplete
and does not have every company of all sizes. More information about the companies can be
found in the links to the company articles.
Below is the list of the largest companies in India by revenue[citation needed]:
Headquar Revenue (billion
Company
ters US $)

Indian Oil Corporation Delhi 61.7

Tata Group Mumbai 62.5

Reliance Industries Mumbai 36.2

Aditya Birla Group Mumbai 24.12

Hindustan Petroleum Mumbai 18.10

Bharat Petroleum Mumbai 17.60

Oil and Natural Gas

Dehradun 16.60
Corporation

State Bank of India Mumbai 13.77

Sahara India Pariwar Lucknow 10.87

Bharat Sanchar Nigam

Delhi 9.67
Limited
Steel Authority of India
Mumbai 6.42
Limited

National Thermal Power

Delhi 6.06
Corporation

Essar Group Delhi 5.83

ICICI Bank Mumbai 5.79

Larsen & Toubro Mumbai 7.0

Hindustan Computers Limited Delhi 4.83

ITC Limited Kolkatta 4.75

Bharti Enterprises Delhi 4.65

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited Mumbai 4.57

Reliance Communications Mumbai 4.49

Jindal Steel Hisar 4.38

GAIL Delhi 4.21

Videocon Delhi 4.13

Wipro Bangalore 3.47

Bharat Heavy Electricals

Delhi 3.43
Limited

Infosys Bangalore 4.04

Indian Railways Delhi 3.10

Hero Honda Delhi 2.87

Punjab National Bank Delhi 2.63

Maruti Suzuki Gurgaon 2.51

Canara Bank Bangalore 2.29

Bank of Baroda Mumbai 2.07

Satyam Computer Services Hyderabad 1.21

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Content Top · 0–9 · A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S
s TUVWXYZ

A
• ACC Limited
• Adani Group
• Aditya Birla Group[1].
• Ador Powertron Limited[2]
• Air India[3] and subsidiary Air-India Express[4]
• Air Sahara[5]
• Alang Ship Recycling Yard[6]
• Amul[7]
• Apollo Hospitals[8]
• Apollo Tyres[9]
• Aranca [10]

• Archies Greetings & Gifts Ltd[11]

• Arvind Mills
• Ashok Leyland[12]
• Asian Paints[13][14] India's largest paint maker/

B
• Bajaj Auto[15]
• Balaji Telefilms [16]

• Bank of India[15]
• Bank of Baroda[17]
• Bharat Aluminium Company [18]

• Bharat Electronics Limited [19]

• Bharat Forge[20] world's largest forging company

• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited[15]
• Bharat Petroleum[15]
• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited[21]
• Bharti Airtel[15]
• Biocon India's largest biotechnology firm
• Birla Corporation Limited[22]
• BMR Advisors[23]
• BMR Managed Services[24]
• Bombay Dyeing[25]
 • BPL group[26]
• Ballarpur Industries Limited [27]

• Bharat Earth Movers Limited

• Britannia Industries[28]

C
• CMC Limited [29]

• Canara Bank [15]

• Cipla [30]

• Club Mahindra Holidays [31]

• Covansys India Limited [32]

• Coal India Limited [33]

• Crest Animation Studios [34]

• Cadila Healthcare [35]

D
• Dabur India Limited [36]

• Damodar Valley Corporation[37]

• Deccan Aviation Pvt. Ltd.[38][39] is an aviation company that operates Air
Deccan
• Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited [40]

• Dr. Reddy's Laboratories[41]

• DLF Universal Limited

E
• Eicher Motors [42]

• Engineers India Limited [43]

• Essar Group[44]
• Eureka Forbes
• Evalueserve[45]

F
• Federal Bank[46]EMA Unihorn (India) Pvt. Ltd.

G
• GAIL [15]

• Genpact India's largest BPO firm

• Godrej Group [47]

• GoAir Airlines[48]
 • Great Eastern Shipping[49]
• Gussmann Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

H
• HDFC Bank [15]

• Hero Cycles Ltd [50]

• Hero Honda Motors Limited [51]

• HCL Technologies
• Hindalco Industries
• Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
world's largest two-wheeler company
[52]
India's fifth largest computer services provider
[53]

• Hindustan Computers Ltd. [54]

• Hindustan Machine Tools [55]

• Hindustan Motors [56]

• Hindustan Petroleum [15]

• Hindustan Times [57]

• Hindustan Construction Company [58]

I
• IBP [59]

• ICICI Bank [15]

• i-flex Solutions [60]

• Indo Gulf Fertilisers [61]

• Indian Railways
• India Today Group [62]

• Indian Oil Corporation[15]

• Indian Overseas Bank [15]

• IndiaTimes Group
• IndiGo Airlines[63]
• Indigo Design & Engineering Associates PLC.
• Infosys Technologies[15]
• Infosys BPO
• ITC Limited [15]

J
• Jain Irrigation Systems[64]
• Jet Airways[65] India's largest domestic airline
• Jindal Steel[66]
K
• Keltron [67]

• Kingfisher Airlines[68]
• Kirloskar Group [69]

• Kotak Mahindra Bank [70]

• Konkan Railway Corporation[71]

L
• Larsen & Toubro[15]

M
• Madras Rubber Factory [72]

• Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation[73]

• Maruti Udyog India's largest automobile manufacturer
• MindTree
• Murugappa Group [74]

• Moser Baer[75] world's 2nd largest optical media manufacturer

N
• National Aluminium Company [76]

• National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) [15]

• NDTV[77]
• Nectar Lifesciences [78]

• Neyveli Lignite Corporation [79]

• Nicholas Piramal [80]

• Nirma [81]

• Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited[82]

• National Fertilizers LimitedN& R [83]

O
• ONGC [84]

• Oil India Limited[85]

P, Q
• Pawan Hans [86]

• Paramount Airways [87]

• Patni Computer Systems [88]

• Pentamedia Graphics Ltd. [89]

 • Persistent Systems [90]

• Polaris Software Lab Limited

R
• Ramco Systems[91]
• Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited[92] India's largest pharmaceutical company
• Raymond Group[93] one of the world's largest textile companies
• Rediff.com[94]
• Reliance ADA Group
• Reliance Capital [95]

• Reliance Communications[96]
• Reliance Energy
• Reliance Fresh [97]

• Reliance Industries Limited [15]

• Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited

• Reliance Petroleum, operates world's largest refinery
• Robosoft Technologies [98]

S
• Sahara India Pariwar [99]

• Satyam Computer Services [15]

• Shipping Corporation of India Ltd [100]

• SMGB [101]

• SpiceJet [102]

• State Bank Of India [15]

• Sterlite Optical Technologies Limited [103]

• Sun TV [104]

• Swaraj Mazda Ltd. [105]

• Syndicate Bank [15]

• Suzlon Energy [106]

, world's largest integrated wind power company

T
• Tally Solutions [107]

• Tata Chemicals [108]

• Tata Consultancy Services Limited [15]

Asia's largest IT firm
• Tata Elxsi [109]

• Tata Interactive Systems [110]

• Tata Motors [15]

 • Tata Steel [15]
world's fifth largest steel producer
• Tata Tea [111]
world's second largest tea manufacturer
• Tech Mahindra [112]

• Titan Watches [113]

• Torrent (Group) [114]

• TVS Motors [115]

U
• Union Bank of India[15]
• United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd. [116]

• UST Global

V
• Vedanta Resources, subsidiaries include Bharat Aluminium Company and
Sesa Goa.
• Videocon Group[117][118][119]
• Vijaya Bank[120]
• Vizag Steel
• Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd[121]

W
• Wadia Group conglomerate[122][123][124][125] holdings include Bombay Dyeing
(textiles), Britannia Industries (food) and Go Air (passenger airline)
• West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Limited (WEBEL)
[126][127][128][129]

• Wipro[15][130][131] India's third largest IT firm

X, Y, Z
• Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited[132][131]

References
1. ^ "Birla buys Novelis for $6 bn", The Indian Express (2007-02-12). Retrieved
on 12 February 2007.
2. ^ The Hindu Business Line: `Ador Powertron has no immediate plans for IPO'
3. ^ Air India set to join Star Alliance
4. ^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International (2007-03-27), p. 58.
5. ^ Jet renames Air Sahara 'Jetlite' Rediff.com, April 16, 2007
6. ^ Information on Alang from the Gujarat Maritime Board
7. ^ The Amul Story - General Management Review
8. ^ Accreditation for 3 Apollo Hospital branches, The Hindu, May 10, 2006
accessed at November 11, 2006
9. ^ Apollo Tyres
10.^ Rediff: What will impact the markets?
11.^ Datta, P.T. Jyothi (2000-06-30). "Archies says you care, on Yahoo!", The
Hindu.
12.^ UK government enquiry
13.^ Asian Paints plans largest plant in Haryana The Economic Times, 30 Jul,
2007]
14.^ Forbes: Asia's 200 Best Under A Billion 10.19.06 (accessed 09/08/2007)
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y
15.^ The Forbes 2000 for India 2007
16.^ Indian Television: Kyunki... Vox Populi hai!
17.^ BSE: 532134
18.^ Stimir Ship Automatic Stub Saw and MIG Welding System to Bharat
Aluminium Company
19.^ Udayavani: Tech upgradation, modernisation at BEL eyes civilian segment
20.^ Second Bharat Forge plant in China
21.^ BSNL asked to add 108 mn subscribers by 2010
22.^ "Birla Corp not to appoint chairman" - article dated August 26, 2004
23.^ Taxand Member Firms, India
24.^ NASSCOM - List of companies
25.^ The Arun Bajoria - Bombay Dyeing Tussle: ICFAI case study
26.^ Kurup, Rajesh (2007-07-27). "BPL Mobile to keep brand name for 1 yr",
Business Standard. Retrieved on 29 July 2007.
27.^ CSR Asia: India: Fighting AIDS in the workplace
28.^ Dev Chatterjee, Danone takes arbitration route to end Wadia ties, Business
Standard, July 1, 2007
29.^ M-net: Kiwi anti-spam firm SMX clinches deal with Indian IT giant
30.^ The Economic Times: Reliance, Cipla in talks for retail pact
31.^ The Hindu Business Line : Club Mahindra set to enter US market
32.^ CNN Money: CSC Completes Acquisition of Covansys
33.^ The Hindu: Coal India seeks Navratna PSU status
34.^ Lakshman, Nandini (November 27, 2004). "This isn't child's play",
rediff.com. Retrieved on 5 December 2006.
35.^ Forbes: India's Cadila Healthcare to buy Brazilian drugmaker Nikkho
36.^ India Infoline: Dabur India to merge with Dabur Foods
37.^ The Hindu Report on Belpahari
38.^ "Air Deccan plane catches fire after flag-off", The Hindu Business Line
(September 25, 2003). Retrieved on 28 March 2007.
39.^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International (2007-04-03), p. 72.
40.^ Delhi Newsline: Asked to chug into city’s edges, suburbs, Metro warns: may
miss 2010 target
41.^ Dr. Reddy’s receive exclusive rights for Zocor
42.^ The Times of India: Hyundai eyes stake in Eicher arm
43.^ Newindpress: Naveen’s mining policy `no good’
44.^ India's Essar to Buy Minnesota Steel to Add Iron Ore (Update4)
45.^ Evalueserve invests US$2mn in LatAm ops center - Chile
46.^ Federal Bank's operating profit up 25 per cent The Hindu, Jan 26, 2007
47.^ Business Standard: Godrej buys Sara Lee marketing rights
48.^ BBC News: India airline gun security breach
49.^ Wright Investors' Service: Great Eastern Shipping Ltd. (The) - Company
Profile Snapshot
50.^ Chandigarh Newsline: Punjab to have modern wasteland
51.^ Forbes, none. "World's most reputed companies (pg.3, rank101 to 150)".
Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
52.^ How Indian companies can adapt to a rising rupee International Herald
Tribune, September 3, 2007
53.^ Helicopter database: Hindustan Aeronautics ltd.(hal) chetak
54.^ CIOL: HCL turns 30
55.^ Business Standard: HMT sees watch biz revival on trendy launches
56.^ Reuters India: Hindustan Motors plans new vehicle with Mitsubishi
57.^ Reuters: Unwanted, Indian granny thrown on garbage dump
58.^ Reuters India: Indian shares end at a record close; Karachi drops
59.^ Government of India: REACHING PETROLEUM PRODUCTS ACROSS THE
COUNTRY
60.^ IT News Online: SWIFT Accredits i-flex as a Service Partner
61.^ The Hindu Business Line: Indo Gulf Fertilisers: Buy
62.^ Indian Television: Meow FM ropes in Kiran Bedi to host talk show
63.^ Airbus press release: IndiGo celebrates delivery of first Airbus A320(28 July
2006)
64.^ "Jain irrigation acquired USA Base Chapin Watermatic". Retrieved on 2006-
05-02.
65.^ BBC News: Indian airlines in $500m merger
66.^ BBC News: Bolivia agrees iron mine contract
67.^ Newindpress: State to have world-class missile facility soon
68.^ Airbus press release: Kingfisher becomes first Indian customer for A380,
A350, & A330(15 June 2005)
69.^ kirloskar group
70.^ Money Control India: Invest in Central Bank IPO at upper band: Experts
71.^ Railways to introduce anti-collision devices soon
72.^ Adelaide Now: Will ICC give a toss for top job?
73.^ PUNE Newsline: New airport site proposed 6 km north of Chakan
74.^ The Wall Street Journal: Murugappa Group to fight attrition with employee
stock options
75.^ REC ASA - Secures a NOK 5.1 billion wafer sales contract from Moser Baer
76.^ The Economic Times: Nalco net sales jumps 22 pc to Rs 59 bn
77.^ Forbes: News Delhi TV - The Roys helped break the government's grip on
TV news. Now they're looking beyond India
78.^ The Hindu Business Line: Nectar Lifesciences: Invest at cut-off
79.^ India govt approves sale of 10 pct in National Aluminium, Neyveli Lignite
AFX News Limited; 06.23.2006, 12:04 a.m.
80.^ Forbes: Nicholas Piramal wins FDA approval for cancer compound's new
drug application
81.^ Domain-b: Lever, Nirma 16-year-old row ends
82.^ Private sector giants `poach' NPCIL personnel The Hindu, Monday,
November 20, 2006
83.^ The Economic Times: Govt reinvites initial bids for National Fertilisers(16
Jan. 2003)
84.^ Fortune 500
85.^ MBendi - Information for Africa: Oil India Ltd
86.^ Domain-b: Pawan Hans to start city heli-services
87.^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International (2007-04-10), p. 61.
88.^ EquityBulls: Patni Computer Systems Ltd Quarterly net profit soars to
Rs.120.69 Crores
89.^ The Legend of Buddha for Oscars
90.^ Persistent Systems Limited is a Software Development company based in
Pune, India. All its clients are the 'technology' firms, and Persistent
contributes to their Product Development.
91.^ BSE: 532370
92.^ BBC News: Patent ruling hits Ranbaxy shares
93.^ Raymond gives Indian Fashion a new dimension with 'Gas'
94.^ IT News Online: Rediff Launches Rediff Bol in Hindi
95.^ MoneyControl.com: Stay away from Reliance Capital
96.^ Reliance Communication
97.^ The Hindu: Agitation against Reliance Fresh
98.^ Leading provider of Software Development services for the Windows and
Mac platform
99.^ Sahara Samay: Nagpur: 'Sahara City Homes' in progress
100.^ The Hindu: Shipping Corpn.’s mega plans
101.^ The Hindu: South Malabar Gramin Bank raises interest rate
102.^ The Hindu: SpiceJet to launch operations on May 23
103.^ UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION: Sterlite
Industries (India) Limited
104.^ DNA - Money: Karunanidhis pull out of Sun TV
105.^ Delhi Newsline: 40 bidders in fray to replace Blueline fleet
106.^ The New York Times: The Ascent of Wind Power
107.^ Tally set to invade global mart in style The Times of India 4 December
2000
108.^ Moneycontrol India: Tata Chem looks to renew focus on agri sector
109.^ The Telegraph - Calcutta, India: Corporate Briefs - Tata Elxsi
110.^ Personnel Today: E-ureka! Online learning comes of age
111.^ Wright Reports: Tata Tea - Company Profile Snapshot
112.^ The Economic Times: Tech Mahindra to foray into education
113.^ ICFAI: Timex in India
114.^ Business Standard: Renewed energy
115.^ TVS Motor Company Ltd.
116.^ "UB group firm to sell stake in airline business", Reuters (2007-07-23).
Retrieved on 29 July 2007.
117.^ Forbes: Tube Opportunist
118.^ Videocon Appliances Limited - Company Profile Snapshot, Wright Reports.
Accessed on 2007-07-29.
119.^ Videocon Industries Limited - Company Profile Snapshot, Wright Reports.
Accessed on 2007-07-29.
120.^ Vijaya Bank - Company Profile Snapshot, Wright Reports. Accessed on
2007-07-29.
121.^ Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited - Company Profile Snapshot, Wright
Reports. Accessed on 2007-07-29.
122.^ Reuters: India Wadia Group says in Britannia long term-paper
123.^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International (2007-04-03), p. 87.
124.^ Britannia Industries Limited - Company Profile, Wright Reports. Accessed
on 2007-07-29.
125.^ Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company Limited - Company Profile,
Wright Reports. Accessed on 2007-07-29.
 126.^ Business Standard: East to cash in on BPO boom
127.^ Information Technology Policy West Bengal 2000, Government of West
Bengal. Accessed on 2007-07-29
128.^ {cite news |first= Ajanta |last=Chakraborty |title= Elections help Webel
staff hold on to jobs |url=
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/649483.cms |work= The Times
of India|date=2004-04-30 |accessdate=2007-07-29}}
129.^ Cisco Systems Signs Education MoU with WEBEL, Cisco Systems news
release. Accessed on 2007-07-29
130.^ Wipro Limited - Company Profile, Wright Reports. Accessed on 2007-07-
29.
131.^ a b BSE India: SENSEX: The barometer of Indian capital markets, Bombay
Stock Exchange. Accessed on 2007-07-29
132.^ Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited - Company Profile, Wright Reports.
Accessed on 2007-07-29.
[hide]
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Patent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Patent (disambiguation).

Intellectual
property law

Primary rights
 Copyright · Patent ·
Trademark

Industrial design rights

Utility model
Geographical indication
Trade secret · Related
rights

Sui generis rights

Database right · Mask

work
Plant breeders' right

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Criticism · more

v • d • e

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed
period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.
The procedure for granting patents, the requirements placed on the patentee and the extent of the
exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international
agreements. Typically, however, a patent application must include one or more claims defining
the invention which must be new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable. In many
countries, certain subject areas are excluded from patents, such as business methods and mental
acts. The exclusive right granted to a patentee in most countries is the right to prevent or exclude
others from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing the invention.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Definition
• 2 Etymology
• 3 Law
○ 3.1 Effects
○ 3.2 Enforcement
○ 3.3 Ownership
○ 3.4 Governing laws
○ 3.5 Application and prosecution
• 4 Economics
○ 4.1 Rationale
○ 4.2 Costs
○ 4.3 Criticism
• 5 History
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links

[edit] Definition
The term patent usually refers to a right granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and
useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful
improvement thereof. The additional qualification utility patents is used in the United States to
distinguish them from other types of patents but should not be confused with utility models
granted by other countries. Examples of particular species of patents for inventions include
biological patents, business method patents, chemical patents and software patents.
Some other types of intellectual property rights are referred to as patents in some jurisdictions:
industrial design rights are called design patents in some jurisdictions (they protect the visual
design of objects that are not purely utilitarian), plant breeders' rights are sometimes called plant
patents, and utility models or Gebrauchsmuster are sometimes called petty patents or innovation
patents. This article relates primarily to the patent for an invention, although so-called petty
patents and utility models may also be granted for inventions.
Certain grants made by the monarch in pursuance of the royal prerogative were sometimes called
letters patent, which was a government notice to the public of a grant of an exclusive right to
ownership and possession. These were often grants of a patent-like monopoly and predate the
modern British origins of the patent system. For other uses of the term patent see Land patents,
which were land grants by early state governments in the USA. This reflects the original
meaning of letters patent that had a broader scope than current usage.
[edit] Etymology
The word patent originates from the Latin patere, which means "to lay open" (i.e., to make
available for public inspection), and more directly as a shortened version of the term letters
patent, which originally denoted a royal decree granting exclusive rights to a person.

[edit] Law
[edit] Effects
A patent is not a right to practice or use the invention.[1] Rather, a patent provides the right to
exclude others[1] from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented
invention for the term of the patent, which is usually 20 years from the filing date. A patent is, in
effect, a limited property right that the government offers to inventors in exchange for their
agreement to share the details of their inventions with the public. Like any other property right, it
may be sold, licensed, mortgaged, assigned or transferred, given away, or simply abandoned.
The rights conveyed by a patent vary country-by-country. For example, in the United States, a
patent covers research, except "purely philosophical" inquiry. A U.S. patent is infringed by any
"making" of the invention, even a making that goes toward development of a new invention —
which may itself become subject of a patent.
A patent being an exclusionary right does not, however, necessarily give the owner of the patent
the right to exploit the patent.[1] For example, many inventions are improvements of prior
inventions which may still be covered by someone else's patent.[1] If an inventor takes an
existing, patented mouse trap design, adds a new feature to make an improved mouse trap, and
obtains a patent on the improvement, he or she can only legally build his or her improved mouse
trap with permission from the patent holder of the original mouse trap, assuming the original
patent is still in force. On the other hand, the owner of the improved mouse trap can exclude the
original patent owner from using the improvement.
Some countries have "working provisions" which require that the invention be exploited in the
jurisdiction it covers. Consequences of not working an invention vary from one country to
another, ranging from revocation of the patent rights to the awarding of a compulsory license
awarded by the courts to a party wishing to exploit a patented invention. The patentee has the
opportunity to challenge the revocation or license, but is usually required to provide evidence
that the reasonable requirements of the public have been met by the working of invention.
[edit] Enforcement

The plate of the Martin ejector seat of the military aircraft, stating that the design is
covered by multiple patents in Britain, South Africa, Canada and "others".
Dübendorf Museum of Military Aviation.

Patents can generally only be enforced through civil lawsuits (for example, for a U.S. patent, by
an action for patent infringement in a United States federal court), although some countries (such
as France and Austria) have criminal penalties for wanton infringement.[2] Typically, the patent
owner will seek monetary compensation for past infringement, and will seek an injunction
prohibiting the defendant from engaging in future acts of infringement. In order to prove
infringement, the patent owner must establish that the accused infringer practices all of the
requirements of at least one of the claims of the patent (noting that in many jurisdictions the
scope of the patent may not be limited to what is literally stated in the claims, for example due to
the "doctrine of equivalents").
An important limitation on the ability of a patent owner to successfully assert the patent in civil
litigation is the accused infringer's right to challenge the validity of that patent. Civil courts
hearing patent cases can and often do declare patents invalid. The grounds on which a patent can
be found invalid are set out in the relevant patent legislation and vary between countries. Often,
the grounds are a sub-set of the requirements for patentability in the relevant country. Whilst an
infringer is generally free to rely on any available ground of invalidity (such as a prior
publication, for example), some countries have sanctions to prevent the same validity questions
being relitigated. An example is the UK Certificate of contested validity.
Patents in force in 2000

The vast majority of patent rights, however, are not determined through litigation, but are
resolved privately through patent licensing. Patent licensing agreements are effectively contracts
in which the patent owner (the licensor) agrees not to sue the licensee for infringement of the
licensor's patent rights, usually in return for a royalty or other payment. It is common for
companies engaged in complex technical fields to enter into dozens of license agreements
associated with the production of a single product. Moreover, it is equally common for
competitors in such fields to license patents to each other under cross-licensing agreements in
order to gain access to each other's patents.
The United Nations Statistics Division reports that the United States was the top market for
patents in force in 2000 closely followed by the EU and Japan.
[edit] Ownership
In most countries, both natural persons and corporate entities may apply for a patent. The entity
or entities then become the owners of the patent when and if it issues. However, it is nearly
always required that the inventor or inventors be named and an indication be given on the public
record as to how the owner or owners acquired their rights to the invention from the inventor or
inventors.
In the United States, however, only the natural person(s) (i.e. the inventor/s) may apply for a
patent. If a patent issues, then each person listed as an inventor owns the patent separately from
the other. For example, if two inventors are listed on a patent, then each one may grant licenses
to the patent independently of the other, absent an agreement to the contrary.
It is common in the United States for inventors to assign their ownership rights to a corporate
entity.[3] Inventors that work for a corporation, for example, often are required to assign their
ownership rights to their corporation as a condition of their employment. Independent inventors
often assign their ownership rights to a single entity so that only one entity has the right to grant
a license.
The ability to assign ownership rights increases the liquidity of a patent as property. Inventors
can obtain patents and then sell them to third parties. The third parties then own the patents as if
they had originally made the inventions themselves.
[edit] Governing laws

Patent law

Overviews

Patents · History
Economics ·
Criticism

Processes

Application ·
Prosecution
 Patentability ·
Licensing
Infringement

By region /
country

Europe
Japan
United States

Category
List of concepts

v • d • e

The grant and enforcement of patents are governed by national laws, and also by international
treaties, where those treaties have been given effect in national laws. Patents are, therefore,
territorial in nature.
Commonly, a nation forms a patent office with responsibility for operating that nation's patent
system, within the relevant patent laws. The patent office generally has responsibility for the
grant of patents, with infringement being the remit of national courts.
There is a trend towards global harmonization of patent laws, with the World Trade Organization
(WTO) being particularly active in this area. The TRIPs Agreement has been largely successful
in providing a forum for nations to agree on an aligned set of patent laws. Conformity with the
TRIPs agreement is a requirement of admission to the WTO and so compliance is seen by many
nations as important. This has also led to many developing nations, which may historically have
developed different laws to aid their development, enforcing patents laws in line with global
practice.
A key international convention relating to patents is the Paris Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property, initially signed in 1883. The Paris Convention sets out a range of basic rules
relating to patents, and although the convention does not have direct legal effect in all national
jurisdictions, the principles of the convention are incorporated into all notable current patent
systems. The most significant aspect of the convention is the provision of the right to claim
priority: filing an application in any one member state of the Paris Convention preserves the right
for one year to file in any other member state, and receive the benefit of the original filing date.
Because the right to a patent is intensely date-driven, this right is fundamental to modern patent
usage.
The authority for patent statutes in different countries varies. In the United States, the
Constitution empowers Congress to make laws to "promote the Progress of Science and useful
Arts..." The laws Congress passed are codified in Title 35 of the United States Code and created
the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In the UK, substantive patent law is contained in
the Patents Act 1977 as amended.[4]
In addition, there are international treaty procedures, such as the procedures under the European
Patent Convention (EPC) [administered by the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg)], and the
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (administered by WIPO and covering 137 countries), that
centralise some portion of the filing and examination procedure. Similar arrangements exist
among the member states of ARIPO, OAPI, the analogous treaties among African countries.
[edit] Application and prosecution
Main articles: Patent application and Patent prosecution

A patent is requested by filing a written application at the relevant patent office. The application
contains a description of how to make and use the invention that must provide sufficient detail
for a person skilled in the art (i.e., the relevant area of technology) to make and use the invention.
In some countries there are requirements for providing specific information such as the
usefulness of the invention, the best mode of performing the invention known to the inventor, or
the technical problem or problems solved by the invention. Drawings illustrating the invention
may also be provided.
The application also includes one or more claims, although it is not always a requirement to
submit these when first filing the application. The claims set out what the applicant is seeking to
protect in that they define what the patent owner has a right to exclude others from making,
using, or selling, as the case may be. In other words, the claims define what a patent covers or
the "scope of protection".
For a patent to be granted, that is to take legal effect in a particular country, the patent
application must meet the patentability requirements of that country. Most patent offices
examine the application for compliance with these requirements. If the application does not
comply, objections are communicated to the applicant or their patent agent or attorney and one or
more opportunties to respond to the objections to bring the application into compliance are
usually provided.
Once granted the patent is subject in most countries to renewal fees to keep the patent in force.
These fees are generally payable on a yearly basis, although the US is a notable exception.

[edit] Economics
This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes.
Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies.
(June 2007)

For more details on this topic, see Economics and patents.

[edit] Rationale
There are four primary incentives embodied in the patent system: to invent in the first place; to
disclose the invention once made; to invest the sums necessary to experiment, produce and
market the invention; and to design around and improve upon earlier patents.[5]
1. Patents provide incentives for economically efficient research and
development (R&D). Many large modern corporations have annual R&D
budgets of hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. Without patents,
 R&D spending would be significantly less or eliminated altogether, limiting
the possibility of technological advances or breakthroughs. Corporations
would be much more conservative about the R&D investments they made, as
third parties would be free to exploit any developments. This second
justification is closely related to the basic ideas underlying traditional
property rights.
2. In accordance with the original definition of the term "patent," patents
facilitate and encourage disclosure of innovations into the public domain for
the common good. If inventors did not have the legal protection of patents, in
many cases, they would prefer or tend to keep their inventions secret.
Awarding patents generally makes the details of new technology publicly
available, for exploitation by anyone after the patent expires, or for further
improvement by other inventors. Furthermore, when a patent's term has
expired, the public record ensures that the patentee's idea is not lost to
humanity.
3. In many industries (especially those with high fixed costs and either low
marginal costs or low reverse engineering costs — computer processors,
software, and pharmaceuticals for example), once an invention exists, the
cost of commercialization (testing, tooling up a factory, developing a market,
etc.) is far more than the initial conception cost. (For example, the internal
"rule of thumb" at several computer companies in the 1980s was that post-
R&D costs were 7-to-1). Unless there is some way to prevent copies from
competing at the marginal cost of production, companies will not make that
productization investment.[clarification needed]
One effect of modern patent usage is that a small-time inventor can use the exclusive right status
to become a licensor. This allows the inventor to accumulate capital from licensing the invention
and may allow innovation to occur because he or she may choose to not manage a manufacturing
buildup for the invention. Thus the inventor's time and energy can be spent on pure innovation,
allowing others to concentrate on manufacturability.[6]
[edit] Costs
Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might
be found on the talk page. (August 2008)

The costs of preparing and filing a patent application, prosecuting it until grant and maintaining
the patent vary from one jurisdiction to another, and may also be dependent upon the type and
complexity of the invention, and on the type of patent.
The European Patent Office estimated in 2005 that the average cost of obtaining a European
patent (via a Euro-direct application, i.e. not based on a PCT application) and maintaining the
patent for a 10 year term was around 32 000 Euro. [7] Since the London Agreement entered into
force on May 1, 2008, this estimation is however no longer up-to-date, since fewer translations
are required.
[edit] Criticism
Main article: Criticism of patents
Patents from time to time have been criticized for being granted on already known inventions. In
1938, for example, R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome wrote:[8]
"At present (1938), the (US patent) files, are so extraordinarily complex and
the items so multitudinous that a veritable army of governmental servants is
required to attend them and sort them into some order of distinguishable
categories to which reference may be made when corresponding with patent
applicants for the purposes of examiner citation of "prior art" disclosure. This
complexity makes it inevitable that the human-equation involved in
government servants relative to carelessness or mechanical limitations
should occasion the granting of multitudes of "probably" invalid patent
claims."

Patents have also been criticized for conferring a "negative right" upon a patent owner,
permitting them to exclude competitors from using or exploiting the invention, even if the
competitor subsequently develops the same invention independently. This may be subsequent to
the date of invention, or to the priority date, depending upon the relevant patent law (see First to
file and first to invent). [9]
Patents may hinder innovation as well in the case of "troll" entities. A holding company,
pejoratively known as a "patent troll", owns a portfolio of patents, and sues others for
infringement of these patents while doing little to develop the technology itself. [10]
Another theoretical problem with patent rights was proposed by law professors Michael Heller
and Rebecca Sue Eisenberg in a 1998 Science article.[11] Building from Heller's theory of the
tragedy of the anticommons, the professors postulated that intellectual property rights may
become so fragmented that, effectively, no one can take advantage of them as to do so would
require an agreement between the owners of all of the fragments.
In regards to pharmaceutical patents, the preservation of exclusivity rights on medications
prevents generic alternatives to enter the market and thus maintains a high price of drug
treatments.[12] This can have significant effects in the developing world as those who are most in
need of basic essential medicines are unable to afford such high priced pharmaceuticals.[13]
Another criticism of pharmaceutical patenting relates the rationale of exclusivity rights and
subsequent high drug prices as required to make back the vast investment needed to further
research and development.[14] Critics have investigated pharmaceutical budget allocations to
address this price justification and revealed that marketing expenditures of new drugs have often
doubled the amount that was allocated for required research and development.[15]
In response to these criticisms against pharmaceutical patents it has been pointed out that less
than 5% of medicines on the WHO’s essential drugs list are subject to patent protection[16] and
that countries who believe that intellectual property is impeding health care may not be aware
that the medicines in question, particularly for HIV/AIDS related drugs, are not patented in their
country.[16] Also, the pharmaceutical industry has contributed US$2 billion in healthcare efforts
in developing countries, providing HIV/AIDS drugs at lower cost or even free of charge in
certain countries and has used differential pricing and parallel imports as a means to provide
medication to the poor.[16] Other groups are investigating ways in which social inclusion and
equitable distribution of research and development findings can be obtined within the existing
intellectual property framework, although these efforts have received less exposure.[16]
[edit] History
Main article: History of patent law

U.S. Patents granted, 1800–2004.[17]

In 500 BC, in the Greek city of Sybaris (located in what is now southern Italy), "encouragement
was held out to all who should discover any new refinement in luxury, the profits arising from
which were secured to the inventor by patent for the space of a year." [18]
Patents in the modern sense originated in 1474, when the Republic of Venice enacted a decree by
which new and inventive devices, once they had been put into practice, had to be communicated
to the Republic in order to obtain the right to prevent others from using them.[19]
England followed with the Statute of Monopolies in 1623 under King James I, which declared
that patents could only be granted for "projects of new invention." During the reign of Queen
Anne (1702–1714), the lawyers of the English Court developed the requirement that a written
description of the invention must be submitted.[20] These developments, which were in place
during the Colonial period, formed the basis for modern English and United States patent law.
In the United States, during the colonial period and Articles of Confederation years (1778–1789),
several states adopted patent systems of their own. The first Congress adopted a Patent Act, in
1790, and the first patent was issued under this Act on July 31, 1790 (to Samuel Hopkins of
Vermont for a potash production technique).

[edit] See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Patent

• List of patent legal concepts

• List of patent related topics
• List of people associated with patent law

[edit] References
1. ^ a b c d "A patent is not the grant of a right to make or use or sell. It does not,
directly or indirectly, imply any such right. It grants only the right to exclude
others. The supposition that a right to make is created by the patent grant is
obviously inconsistent with the established distinctions between generic and
specific patents, and with the well-known fact that a very considerable
portion of the patents granted are in a field covered by a former relatively
generic or basic patent, are tributary to such earlier patent, and cannot be
 practiced unless by license thereunder." - Herman v. Youngstown Car Mfg.
Co., 191 F. 579, 584-85, 112 CCA 185 (6th Cir. 1911)
2. ^ DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary (2005) Patent Litigation across Europe,
handout available as per this link.
3. ^ "Assignee (Company) Name". Help Page. U.S. Copyright and Trademark
Office (USPTO). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
4. ^ United Kingdom law requiring no explicit authority due to the Supremacy of
Parliament.
5. ^ Howard T. Markey (chief judge of the United States Court of Customs and
Patent Appeals and later of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit),
Special Problems in Patent Cases, 66 F.R.D. 529, 1975.
6. ^ Stim, Rishand, "Profit from Your Idea: How to Make Smart Licensing
Decisions", ISBN 1413304508 (Published 2006)
7. ^ With the following assumptions: "18 pages (11 pages description, 3 pages
claims, 4 pages drawings), 10 claims, patent validated in 6 countries
(Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland), excl. in-house
preparation costs for the patentee" (the costs relate to European patents
granted in 2002/2003), in European Patent Office, The cost of a sample
European patent - new estimates, 2005, page 1.
8. ^ Nine Chains to the Moon, Chapter 36, "Throwing in the Patent Sponge", p
277
9. ^ "Charles L. Gholz, Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, 82
JPTOS 891, December 2000.". Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
10.^ "Patent troll definition and description". Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
11.^ Heller, M.A., & Eisenberg, R.S. (1998). Can Patents Deter Innovation? The
Anticommons in Biomedical Research. Science, 280(1 May 1998), 280, 698-
701.
12.^ Banta, D.H. (2001). Worldwide interest in global access to drugs. The
Journal of the American Medical Association, 285 (22), 2844-2846.
13.^ Ferreira, L. (2002). Access to affordable HIV/AIDS drugs: the human rights
obligations of multinational pharmaceutical corporations. Fordham Law
Review, 71(3), 1133-1179.
14.^ Banta, D.H. (2001). Worldwide interest in global access to drugs. The
Journal of the American Medical Association, 285 (22), 2844-2846.
15.^ Barton, J.H., Emanuel, E.J. (2005). The patents-based pharmaceutical
development process: rationale, problems and potential reforms. The Journal
of the American Medical Association, 294(16), 2075-2082.
a b c d
16.^ http://www.ip-institute.org.uk/pdfs/Perceptions%20of%20IP.pdf
17.^ U.S. Patent Activity 1790 to the Present
18.^ Charles Anthon, A Classical Dictionary: Containing An Account Of The
Principal Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors, And Intended To
Elucidate All The Important Points Connected With The Geography, History,
Biography, Mythology, And Fine Arts Of The Greeks And Romans Together
 With An Account Of Coins, Weights, And Measures, With Tabular Values Of
The Same, Harper & Bros, 1841, page 1273.
19.^ (German) Helmut Schippel: Die Anfänge des Erfinderschutzes in Venedig,
in: Uta Lindgren (Hrsg.): Europäische Technik im Mittelalter. 800 bis 1400.
Tradition und Innovation, 4. Aufl., Berlin 2001, S.539-550 ISBN 3-7861-1748-
9. "Wolfgang-Pfaller.de: Patentgesetz von Venedig" (in German / Italian).
20.^ "History of Copyright". UK Intellectual Property Office (2006). Retrieved on
2007-08-12.

[edit] External links

Look up patent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Directory of Intellectual Property Offices, maintained by World Intellectual

Property Organization (WIPO)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent"

Categories: Intellectual property law | Patent law | Monopoly (economics) | Public

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