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THE PATENTS ACT,1970

INTRODUCTION TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual Property refers to creation of mind i.e. Inventions, Industrial designs for article, Literary & artistic work, Symbols etc. Intellectual property is divided into 2 categories: Industrial property: which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source. Copyright: which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems, plays, films and musical works etc.

PATENTS
A Patent is an intellectual property right relating to inventions and is the grant of exclusive right, for limited period provided by the Government to the patentee in exchange of full disclosure of his invention for excluding others, from making, using, selling, importing the patented product or process producing that product for those purposes.

A patent is a Monopoly Right granted


For an invention By the government To the inventor or his assignee For a limited period It is valid within the country of grant

INVENTION

Invention is a successful technical solution to a technical problem. To be granted a Patent, An invention must be new, non-obvious and capable of industrial application

Criteria for Patentability


New & useful Non-obvious Capable of Industrial Applications

Patents Act specifies


What are not inventions? What are not patentable inventions?

What Does Patent System Do ?


It encourages RESEARCH. Induces an inventor to disclose his inventions instead of keeping them as secret. Provides inducement for capital investment encouraging technological development. It encourages establishment of new industries.

Advantages Of A Patent To The Public


KNOWLEDGE OF INVENTION ADDS TO SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND FORMING BASE FOR FURTHER RESEACH REASONABLE ASSURANCE FOR COMMERCIALIZATION PATENT- OPEN TO PUBLIC FOR USE
AFTER ITS TERM EXPIRES

OR
WHEN IT CEASES TO BE IN FORCE

Different Ways Of Dealing With An Invention


Make it public for free use by public (like publishing in the journal) Or Work the invention in SECRECY without PATENTING it (like coco-cola composition) Or Work the invention OPENLY without PATENTING it (directly put it in the market) Or EXPLOIT the invention on the basis of a PATENT (like Rank Xerox )

Patent Reform and Developments

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Beginning of Indian Patent Law


1856 Act: based on British patent system

Provided for a 14 year term


Numerous Acts and Amendments followed Indian Patents and Design Act of 1911 replaced all previous legislation

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Indian Patent Law Develops


Patents Act of 1970
Lengthy examination and opposition procedures
Weak re: pharma; no protection for agricultural and horticultural products, atomic energy inventions, and all living things Protected methods and processes of manufacture but not the compositions (drugs, food) themselves Methods and processes had short terms of protection (~ 5-7 years); others had 14-year terms

Problem: Little incentive for large pharma companies to innovate, spend $ on R&D

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Amendments to the Patents Act of 1970


1999 Amendment:
Provisions for filing applications for product patents in fields of drugs/medicine
Granted Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMR) on those products

2002 Amendment:
20-year term

2005 Amendment:
Grants protection to products patents in all fields of technology (chemical, food, drug, agrochemical)
Fully in compliance with TRIPS
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Amendments to the Patents Act of 1970


2005 Amendment: (continued)
Time limit for requests for examination decreased from 48 to 36 months
Compulsory licensing provisions For the manufacture and export of pharma products to any country with insufficient or no manufacturing capacity of its own to address public health problems Time frame for examination amended

Attempt to speed up process for reviewing and examining patents

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The Patents Rule


Rules for implementing the Patent Act and regulating the Patent Administration Passed in 1972; replaced by Patents Rules of 2003, as amended by Patents (Amendment) Rules of 2005 & 2006

Reduced timelines
Fee structure based on size of spec and number of claims

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WHAT IS NOT PATENTABLE


The following are Non-Patentable inventions within the meaning of the Act: 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 a scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory (or discovery of any living thing or non-living substances occurring in nature);

4. The mere arrangement or re-arrangement or duplication of known devices each functioning independently of one another in a known way. 5. A method of agriculture or horticulture . 6. Inventions relating to atomic energy not patentable:

Grant for a patent


To get a patent grant, the first most step is to file a patent application. Who can file a patent application? Where to file a patent application? How to file a patent application?

Who can file Patent Application


In India [Section 6 and 134] The application can be filed either alone or jointly: By any person claiming to be true and first inventor(s) By any person being the assignee of person claiming to be true and first inventor(s) ( proof of assignment has to be submitted along with the application ) By the legal representative of any deceased person or assignee

Where to file patent application


The appropriate office of the patent office shall be the head office of the patent office or the branch office as the case may be within whose territorial limits Residence of applicant or Domicile; or His the place of business; or The place where the invention actually originated. If the applicant has no business or domicile in India, the address for service in India is given by such applicant

Regional Patent offices Jurisdiction


Office
Patent Office Branch, Chennai

Territorial Jurisdiction
The States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territories of Pondicherry and Lakshadweep

Patent Office Branch Mumbai

The States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Chhattisgarh and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu & Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
The States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The rest of India

Patent Office Branch, New Delhi

Patent Office, HO Kolkata

How to file a patent application?


Documents can be filed in the patent office through online( e-filing) or www.ipindiaonline.gov.in/online through post or can be submitted by hand

GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING A PATENT


Filing of patent application Publication after 18 months Pre Grant Opposition /Representation by any person. Request for examination Examination: Grant or Refusal Publication of Grant of patent Post Grant Opposition to grant of patent Decision By Controller

Form of application
1. Every application for a patent shall be for one invention only and shall be made in the prescribed form and filed in the patent office. 2. Every application under this section shall state that the applicant is in possession of the invention and shall name the owner claiming to be the true and first inventor; and where the person so claiming is not the applicant or one of the applicants, the application shall contain a declaration that the applicant believes the person so named to be the true and first inventor. 3. Every such application (not being a convention application) shall be accompanied by a provisional or a complete specification

SPECIFICATIONS
Provisional specification -a provisional specification is usually filed to establish priority of the invention in case the disclosed invention is only at a conceptual stage and a delay is expected in submitting full and specific description of the invention. No patent is granted on the basis of a provisional specification. Complete specification -the complete specification is the document in which all the details of the invention for which patent protection is desired are disclosed

Contents of Specification
Title of the invention Field of the invention Background of the invention (PRIOR ART) Object of the invention Summary of the invention Brief description of drawings, if any Detailed description of the invention Examples Claims- not required in provisional Abstract- not required in provisional

Examination of application
(1) When the complete specification has been led in respect of an application for a patent, the application and the specification relating thereto shall be referred by the Controller to an Examiner for making a report to him in respect of the following matters, namely:-

A. whether the application and the specification relating thereto are in accordance with the requirements of this Act .

B. whether there is any lawful ground of objection to the grant of the patent under this Act in pursuance of the application; the result of investigations made under section 13; and any other matter which may be prescribed.
(2) The Examiner to whom the application and the specification relating thereto are referred under sub-section (1) shall ordinarily make the report to the Controller within a period of eighteen months from the date of such reference.

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