Q. What is a Patent?
A. 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.
Q. What is the term of a patent in the Indian system?
A. 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.
Q. Does an Indian Patent give a worldwide protection?
A. 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.
Q. What are the criteria for patentability?
A. An invention is patentable subject matter if it meets the following criteria:
- It should be novel
- It should have inventive step or it must be non-obvious to a person skilled in the art
- It should be capable of Industrial application and
- It should not attract the provisions of section 3 and 4 of the Patents Act 1970.
Q. When should an application for a patent be filed?
A. 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.
Q. Is there any jurisdiction for filing patent application in India?
A. Yes, India has four patent offices located at Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Each office has a separate territorial jurisdiction. The appropriate office for all proceedings including filing of the application depends normally where the applicant/first mentioned applicant resides/has domicile/has place of business/has origin of invention. In case of foreign applicants, it depends on the address for service in India given by such applicant.
Q. Is patent application once filed examined automatically?
A. A patent application is not examined automatically after its filing. The examination is done only after receipt of the request of examination in Form 18 either from the applicant.
Q. What happens to a patent application once it is examined?
A. After examination, the Patent office issues an examination report to the applicant which is generally known as First Examination Report (FER). Thereafter the applicant is required to comply with the requirements within a period of 6 months from the date of FER which can be extended by 3 months. In case, the application is found to be in order for grant, the patent is granted, provided there no pre-grant opposition is filed or pending. A letter patent is issued to the applicant. However, in case a pre-grant opposition is pending, the further action is taken after disposition of the pre-grant opposition.
Q. What happens when applicant is not able to meet the requirement within the prescribed time?
A. If the applicant does not file a reply within 6 months or does not take an extension of 3 months, the application is deemed to have been abandoned.
Q. Is there any additional requirement for filing of patent applications in respect of microbiological inventions?
A. In addition to the various forms required to be filed at the time of filing the patent application, the applicant is also required to deposit the new strain of a microorganism if used in the invention disclosed in the patent specification, in a recognized depository which assigns a registration number to the deposited microorganism, before filing for the patent application. This number needs to be quoted in the patent application.
Q. Are there any schemes available for MSME’s and Start-ups with respect to IPRs?
A. Yes, the Government of India has formulated schemes to spur the innovative capabilities of the innovators who are from MSME‘S and Start-ups.MSME’s:
- A 50% fee concession is provided for MSMEs vis-à-vis large entities on patent filing fees.
- A Scheme for facilitating Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) has been launched for encouraging innovation and creativity of Startups.
Q. What are the rights of a patentee once the patent is granted?
A. A patentee enjoys the exclusive right to make and use the patented invention. The patentee also has the right to assign the patent, grant licenses, or otherwise deal with the patent, for any consideration. These rights, created by statute, are circumscribed by various conditions and limitations as prescribed under the Patents Act 1970.
Q. Is it necessary to show working of a patent after grant?
A. Under the provisions of section 146, every patentee or a licensee, is required to furnish the information relating to working of patent, statement as to the extent to which the patented invention has been worked. This must be submitted on Form 27 by 31 March each year for the previous year ending 31 December.
The above information is strictly for the knowledge of the general public and can be readily accessed on the Intellectual Property office website.
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