PATENTS

PATENTS

Subject  : Economy

Context : Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) have filed 184 patents during the year 2020, including 65 international ones.

Concept :

• A patent is an intellectual property right.
• A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a new product or process that meets conditions of

novelty,

non-obviousness, &

industrial use.

• A patent provides the owner with the right to decide how – or whether – the invention can be used by others.

Criteria for issuing Patents in India

• Novelty: it should be new (not published earlier + no prior Public Knowledge/ Public Use in India)
• Non obviousness: It must involve an inventive step (technical advanced in comparison to existing knowledge + non‐obvious to a person skilled in the relevant field of technology)
• Industrial use: It should be capable of Industrial application
• Patents in India are governed by “The patent Act 1970” which was amended in 2005 to make it compliant with TRIPS.

What cannot be patented?

• Frivolous Invention: Invention that harms public order/Morality/ health of animals, plants & humans
• Methods of agriculture or horticulture
• Traditional Knowledge
• Computer Program
• Inventions related to Atomic Energy
• Plants & Animals
• Mere discovery of scientific principle

Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2020

• The central government has published an amended Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2020.
• The new rules have amended the format of a disclosure statement that patentees & licensees are required to annually submit to the Patent Office.
• The format contains disclosing the extent to which they have commercially worked or made the patented inventions available to the public in the country.
• The disclosure is to be made in the Form 27 format as prescribed under the Patent Rules, 2003.
• The patentees & licensees as well as the Patent Office have blatantly disregarded this statutory requirement.
• There has been significant pressure from MNCs & the U.S. to do away with this requirement.