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• A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which can be a product or a process, offering a new way of doing something or a technical solution to a problem.
• The paperclip, as known today, was invented and patented in 1927 by George Griffiths from America.

Patents in India

• Governed by laws including The Patent Act 1970, The Patent Rules 2003, and amendments from 2002, 2005, and 2017.
• The Patent Act of 1970 contains 163 sections.
• The Patent Act of 1970 provides criteria for patentability.
• The Patent Act of 1970 introduced all fields including food, drugs, medicines, and chemicals.
• The central government has the power to use and acquire inventions.
• The term of a patent in all fields is twenty years.
• Compulsory disclosure of information is required relating to the filing of foreign patent applications.
• Early publication of patent applications is allowed upon request, before 18 months.
• The head office for patents is in Kolkata, with branch offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai.

Most Patents in India

• Gurtej Singh Sandhu, an Indian, holds the record, with over 1340 utility patents.
• Gurtej Singh Sandhu is a Senior Fellow and Vice President at Micron Technology, working in Electrical Engineering.
• Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati, born on September 3, 2002, is the youngest patent holder.
• On July 26, 2011, Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati received a patent (Design no. 238319) for inventing a six-player circular Chess board at 9 years old.

Companies Owning Large Numbers of Patents

• 3M Company (USA) owns more than one lakh patents.
• International Business Machines (IBM) in the USA.
• Samsung Electronics in South Korea.
• Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan.

Criteria for Patentability

• Novelty: the invention must be new.
• Inventive-step/ non-obviousness: using the example of Amazon Alexa, a new feature detects coughs or colds and offers medicine, making it advanced compared to existing solutions.
• Industrial Application/ utility: the invention should be capable of being made or used in any kind of industry.

Macro-Economic Impact of the Patent System:

• The system is designed to encourage innovation.
• Patents allow owners to recover expenses invested in research and development.
• Patents grant inventors exclusive rights to commercially exploit their inventions for a limited time.
• Inventors must disclose their inventions to get patent rights.
• Exclusive rights for a limited period allow inventors to recover research and development costs and investments.

Role of Patents in Economic Development:

• It is case-specific depending on industry and country.
• International patent laws are becoming stricter.
• A higher level of technology development creates a comparable advantage.
• Patents give owners the right to monopolize the market for a limited time, encouraging innovation.
• The public may suffer from patents that are not innovative due to higher costs.

Patent Protection

• Patents may be granted for inventions in any field of technology.
• Inventions can be products or processes, such as a chemical compound, or a process for producing a specific chemical compound.
• Many products contain multiple inventions working together.
• In India, patents are granted by the India Patent Office.

Types of Patents Granted in India

• Utility
• Plant
• Design

Utility Patent

• It consists of the creation of an improved product or an entirely new process, product, or machine, also known as a "patent for invention.”
• It prohibits companies from duplicating the creation without consent.
• These patents are in effect for about 20 years, but the patentee must regularly pay maintenance fees.
• Utility patents can be associated with software products, machines, mechanisms, and chemical formulations.
• Utility patents are pertinent to pharmaceutical drugs, and other medical patents, including software that helps physicians manage patients using artificial limbs and physical therapy devices.

Plant Patent

• A plant patent can be for natural, breed, or non-reproductive cells of the plant and must be asexually reproducible.
• Methods to reproduce asexually include bulbs, division, root cuttings, grafting, or budding for plant stability.
• A plant patent can have 2 investors: one who discovered the plant and the other who reproduced it.
• The patent expires 20 years from the filing date of the patent application.

Design Patent

• A design patent applies to the unique look of a manufactured item.
• For plant patents, if the plant also has a unique shape, the inventor can get a design patent too.
• Headlight shape or distinctive hood on automobiles can be applied for a design patent.
• Visual elements are a part of any product, add value to it, and can be patented.
• Design patents last for 14 years from the date on which the patent is granted.

Product Patent

• Granted to the product or the end result or an article or the substance itself.

Process Patent

• Granted when a substance is invented or produced. A patent is not granted to the substance or product itself.
• Granted only to the method or the process of manufacture of a product or substance.

Patents of Addition

• Granted for the improvement or modification of a patent or invention.
• The person who already obtained a patent makes an application to the controller regarding any improvement or modification.
• The controller may grant a patent for such improvement or modification.

Inventions Not Patentable

• Inventions contrary to well-established natural laws (e.g., soaking white chalk in red ink to produce red-colored chalk).
• Inventions against public order or morality (e.g., a machine invented for counterfeiting currency).
• Mere discoveries and natural-based things (e.g., Newton's law).
• Methods of agriculture or horticulture (spraying insecticides on a field to prevent insects from harming plants).

Patent Documents

• The patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or process that provides a solution to a problem.
• To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application.
• Patent drafting is the process of preparing a patent application describing various features of the invention and detailing the technical effects and advantages.
• The main parts of a patent application generally include specifications and drawings.

Procedure of Registration

• Filing of application.
• Filing of complete specification within 12 months (in case provisional application is filed).
• Publication of application in patent journal (after 18 months from the date of filing application or priority date).
• Request for examination (within 48 months of filing date).
• Examination.
• Report of examination.
• The applicant must request an examination of his application for a patent within 48 months from the date of filing; otherwise, it will be treated as withdrawn.
• The examiner must produce an examination report within 1 to 3 months from the date of reference of application.

Application Filing:

• It can be filed by the first inventor of the invention.
• It can be filed by the assignee of the inventor.
• It can be filed by a legal representative of a deceased person entitled to make the application.
• A separate application must be filed for each invention.
• Send documents to the appropriate patent office in Hindi or English.
• Applications can be filed in electronic form with one copy on white paper.

Forms Required for Application:

• Form 1: Covering letter.
• Form 2: Provisional/complete specification.
• Form 3: Statement of foreign filing particulars, if any.
• Form 4: Proof of right, if applicable.
• Form 5: Declaration of inventorship.
• Certified copies of priority documents.
• Power of attorney, if applicable.

Abstract of Invention Includes:

• Title disclosing specific features of the invention in 50-150 words.
• Concise summary specification with technical problems, principal uses, a chemical formula, and reference.

Types of Patent Applications:

• Ordinary
• Convention
• Patent of addition
• Divisional
• PCT international phase
• PCT national phase

Provisional and Complete Specification

• Specification is the description of the invention.
• Provisional specification provides the initial description of an invention.
• Complete specification lists out the complete details of an invention.
• Drawngs and sketches
• Samples and models
• Clearly stating title
• Declaration as to the inventorship

Patent Journal

• A monthly publication by the Patent and Trademark Office Society.
• The Patent Journal discusses legal and technical subjects relation to the useful arts, knowledge of functioning intellectual property law as well as journal types for patents, copyright, and trademarks.
• Application for Patents will be published after 18 months, calculated from the filing date as calculated by section 11A and rules 24 and 24A.

Examination

• The application is referred to an examiner by the controller to make a report on:
• Application requirements of the Patent Act and rules.
• Any lawful ground of objection to granting the patent.
• Whether the applied invention has already been published or claimed by another person.
• Inspection of other matters prescribed by the Patent Act, including power of the controller to grant a patent.

Pre and Post Grant Opposition

• Pre-grant opposition: any person can file an opposition anytime after the publication date of the application until the time of granting of patent.
• Post-grant opposition: any person can file an opposition one year after the grant of a patent.

Granting of Patent

• Covered in Chapter VIII, sections 43 to 47 of the Patent Act, 1970, with chapter rules 74-80 of patent rules 2003, amended til 2017,.
• The application has not been refused by the controller.
• The application has not been found in conversation of any of the provisions of this act.
• A patent document open for public inspection if the controller agrees with the patent application.
• Patents must be in the specific form and take effect throughout India.

Patent searches

• Typically deals with search/research/ data mining which involve patents either directly or indirectly.
• Patent searching is a key tool for organizations across the globe, which is now increasingly sensitive to innovation.

Patent Searching Resources

• Patent Public Search
• Global Dossier.
• Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR).
• Public Search Facility.