Context
Recently the Patents Rules 2024 notified with several provisions to simplify Patent prosecution and maintenance.
What is a Patent?
- Statutory right: It is a statutory right granted to the inventor or applicant by the government for his innovation, which can be a new procedure or product.
- Safeguarding of Intellectual Property Rights: It safeguards intellectual property for 20 years, during which no one else may make the product. Royalties might be paid for using the product.
- Duration: After 20 years, technology enters the public domain.
- Conditions of Granting Patent: It is awarded in lieu of providing enough disclosure to the patent offices.
- Type of Right: This is merely a territorial right.
- Not absolute rights: Patents are not absolute rights and are subject to conditions such as government use, which includes importing or producing on behalf of the government.
- Purpose of Granting Patent: There are three purposes: experimental, research, and teaching.
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Key Features of the New Patent Rules 2024
- Introduction of Certificate of Inventorship: A new ‘Certificate of Inventorship‘ has been introduced to acknowledge inventors’ contributions to the patented invention.
Paris Convention
- About: Paris Convention is an international convention.
- Under this convention if one applies for registration of patent in any member country, within six months from the date of filing of patent application in India, they will have the same priority as in India.
- India is also a member of this convention.
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- Incorporation of Form 31: The provision for collecting the benefits of the grace period under Section 31 has been simplified by the incorporation of new forms, namely Form 31.
- Reduction in Time frame: The time restriction for providing foreign application filing details in Form 8 has been modified from six months from the date of filing to three months from the date of issuing of the first examination report.
- Decreased Time Restriction: Given the rapid advancement of technology, the time restriction for filing a request for inspection has been decreased from 48 months to 31 months from the date of priority of application or the date of filing of application, whichever occurs first.
- Extension in Time Limit: The provision for extending the time limit and forgiving filing delays has been streamlined and made more explicit to make it easier to use.
- The period for performing any act or action may now be extended up to six months upon request in a regulated manner.
- Reduction in Renewal Fees: Renewal fees have been reduced by 10% if paid in advance via electronic method for at least four years.
- Reduced Frequency of filing patents: The frequency with which patent statements of works have been filed in Form 27 has been lowered from once every fiscal year to once every three fiscal years.
- The clause allowing for a three-month delay in filing such statements upon request in the prescribed way has been incorporated.
- Streamlining of Pre-Grant representation: The procedure for filing and disposing of the Pre-grant representation by way of opposition under section 25(1) has been further streamlined and made more explicit by providing ways to dispose of the representation and establishing filing fees.
What Can Be Patented in India?
- Products: This category covers new and inventive physical items, such as machines, devices, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and manufactured goods.
- Processes or Methods: Innovative methods or processes that offer a novel way of accomplishing a specific task or producing a product can be patented.
- Machines: Any new and useful machines or mechanical inventions, including those with innovative mechanisms or components, can be patented.
- Manufactured Articles: Items created through a novel process or having unique features can be patented as manufactured articles.
- Chemical Compounds: New and inventive chemical compounds, including pharmaceuticals
What Cannot Be Patented in India?
The Patent Act 1970 specifies specific exclusions from patentability. Here’s what cannot be patented:
- Inventions that violate natural laws.
- Inventions harmful to humans, animals, plant life, or the environment.
- Discoveries of scientific principles or abstract theories.
- Discoveries of naturally occurring living or non-living substances.
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Patent System in India
- Rules Governing Patent: The patent system in India is governed by the Patents Act 1970, as revised by the Patents (Amendment) Act of 2005 and the Patents Rules 2003.
- Modifications: The Patent Rules are constantly modified to reflect the changing environment, with the most recent being in 2016.
- Conditions:
- Novelty: To be patentable, an invention must be new and meet specific conditions.
- It should contain imaginative steps, otherwise it must not be clear.
- Industrial Applicability: It should be suitable for industrial applications.
- It should not be subject to the restrictions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Patents Act 1970.
- Confidential: All patent applications are kept confidential for up to 18 months from the date of filing or priority date, whichever comes first.
- Publication in Official Journal of Patent office: It is then published in the Official Journal of the Patent Office, which is published weekly and also available on the Indian Patent Office (IPO) website.
- Available in Public domain: After publication, the public can see the documents and obtain a photocopy upon payment of the authorised charge.
Also Read: Law Commission Report On Trade Secrets
News Source: PIB
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March 18, 2024