Patent in India

What is a Patent in India?

A Patent in India is twenty years monopolistic protection granted to the applicant for an invention that has novelty, inventive step and industrial use. A patent in India gives its owner an exclusive right to commercially make, use, distribute, sell, or license the invention for financial gain. A patent in India is granted for an invention, which may be a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.

The patent, in the eyes of the law, is an intellectual property right and it can be given away, inherited, sold, licensed, and can even be abandoned. A patent in India lasts for 20 years.

Who can apply for a Patent in India?

An application for Patent in India for an invention may be filed by any of the following persons either alone or jointly with any other person:

• True and first inventor
• True and first inventor’s assignee
• Legal representative of deceased true and first inventor or his/her assignee

What are the documents required for filing a Patent in India

• Name, address and nationality of each inventor and applicants
• A copy of the Complete Specification which must include claims, abstract and drawings
• Verified English translation of the priority documents
• A Power of Attorney signed by an applicant or an authorized person of each applicant
• Proof of Right: a document transferring the rights from inventor to the applicants
• Information of the status of the patent applications filed in other jurisdictions for the same invention.

What is the procedure of prosecuting a Patent in India?

After filing an application for a Patent in India, examination must be requested within 48 months from the filing date.

​After requesting examination, it will typically be 12-18 months before a first examination report is issued. A response to the first examination report must be filed within six months of its date. The applicant must put the patent in order for grant within 12 months from the date of the first examination report.

​Following successful examination, the application will proceed to acceptance and third parties are provided with an opportunity to oppose the grant of a patent within 3 months of the advertisement of acceptance. If there is no opposition, a patent will be granted shortly thereafter.

What are the inventions that can be Patented in India?

An invention must, in general, fulfill the following conditions to be protected by a patent in India.

• The invention must be new, it must show an element of novelty that could not be deduced by a person with average knowledge of the technical field.
• It must involve an inventive step.
• It must be capable of being used or applied in trade or industry.

What are the inventions that can not be patented in India?

According to The Patents Act, 1970 the following inventions can not be patented:

• Frivolous or claiming anything obviously contrary to established natural laws.
• Contrary to public order or morality or prejudicial to life or environment.
• Discovery of scientific principle or formulation or discovery of living or nonliving substance.
• Discovery of a new form of property or use of a known substance or new use of a known process or machine or an apparatus not resulting in a new product.
• Substance obtained from the admixture of known components resulting in the only aggregation of their properties.
• Mere rearrangement or duplication of known devices.
• A method of agriculture or horticulture.
• Medical treatment or procedure of humans or animals.
• Plants or animals or seeds and biological processes of production or prorogation of these.
• Mathematical or business method or computer program or algorithm.
• Artistic or aesthetic creation like literary, dramatic, musical, or cinematographic or television production.
• Scheme or rule or method of performing any mental act or of a game.
• Presentation of information.
• Topography of integrated circuits.
• Aggregation or duplication of known properties of components.
• Inventions relating to atomic energy.

What kind of protection does a Patent in India offer?

Patent protection means that the invention cannot be commercially made, used, distributed, or sold without the patent owner’s consent. These patent rights are usually enforced in a court, which, in most systems, holds the authority to stop patent infringement. Conversely, a court can also declare a patent invalid upon a successful challenge by a third party.

What rights does a Patent owner have?

A patent owner has the right to decide who may – or may not – use the patented invention for the period in which the invention is protected. The patent owner may permit to, or license, other parties to use the invention on mutually agreed terms.

The owner may also sell the right to the invention to someone else, who will then become the new owner of the patent.

Why are Patents necessary?

Patents provide incentives to individuals by offering them recognition for their creativity and material reward for their marketable inventions in the form of an economic monopoly over their inventions.

These incentives encourage innovation, which assures that the quality of human life is continuously enhanced.

How is a Patent granted in India?

The first step in securing a patent is applying for a patent in India.

The application is minutely examined to ensure that it contains no claim over any prior art, and the claims are within the scope of the disclosure described in the specification. The applicant needs to overcome all objections of the Patent Office to secure a successful grant of patent.

Who grants a Patent in India?

A patent in India is granted by a national patent office known as the Intellectual Property Office of India.

Patents in other countries are granted by national offices or by a regional office that does the work for several countries, such as the European Patent Office and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization.

How can a patent be obtained worldwide?

At present, no ‘world patents’ or ‘international patents’ exist. In general, an application for a patent must be filed, and a patent shall be granted and enforced, in each country in which you seek patent protection for your invention, by the law of that country.

Can I disclose my invention to a potential investor before filing a patent application?

It is important to file a patent application before publicly disclosing the details of the invention.

If it is inevitable to disclose your invention to, for example, a potential investor or a business partner, before filing a patent application, such a disclosure should be accompanied by a confidentiality agreement.

You may directly call on +91.9860588440 or write a mail to info@bhagnari.com for further information and discussions.

Written by Mahesh Bhagnari, Patent Attorney in India.

Patent Lawyer in India

I, Mahesh Bhagnari, am the Managing Principal of the firm:

• I am an Attorney at Law with Bar Council Registration № MAH/1574/2003.
• I am licensed to practice at the Intellectual Property Office as a Patent lawyer in India and Design lawyer in India with Registration № IN PA 1108.
• I am licensed to practice as a Trademark lawyer in India with Registration № 10742.
• I have more than twenty years of professional experience working in the field of Intellectual property.