Patent Registration in India

Filing process of patents involves withstanding various stages of opposition from the public, at large. Patents have to be renewed from time to time, but are generally granted for 20 years. Once the opposition is dealt with, and the examiner is satisfied with the application, having considered all elemets essential for a patent, it is granted.

Wed Apr 06 2022 | Business Law | Comments (0)

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The patent is an exclusive right granted by a Government to an individual who has invented any new and useful device, software, products or the processes.  The provisions of Patent Act, 1970 protect the inventions which are carried out by the individual.

WHO CAN APPLY FOR PATENT

The following are the persons who can file the application for the registration of the patents in the patent office either alone or jointly or by any other person:

As per the Patents Act, the term person is  includes the government.

FILING OF THE PATENT APPLICATION

The application for patent registration shall be filed before the Patent Office having its own jurisdiction. The territorial jurisdiction for filing the patent applications before the patent office are as under:

  1. Where the applicant resides, or  has domicile or carries out the business.
  2. The Address for the services being carried out in India by the applicant, in case where there is a foreign applicant
  3. For the registration purpose, Indian Patent Office regulates their functions from major cities i.e. Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

REGISTRATION PROCESS

There are two options available to an individual seeking the registration of the patent, online filing of the applications or in the patent office having the particular jurisdiction.

  1. Filing the application - The application for the grant of patent is filed before the patent office comprising of the complete specifications, claims, abstract, and declaration by the inventor along with the prescribed fee.
  2. Publication  The publication of the application is done after the expiry of 18 months from the filing date or the date of priority of the application having a title of the invention, abstract, the application no. and the name of the applicant and the inventor.

To speed up the process of granting the patent application, the request for publication is put before the patent office, which can be made at any time after the filing of the application. The application is published in one month from the date of publication. 

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  2. Opposition (if any)                                                                               
  3. i. Pre grant opposition
    A person can file a pre grant opposition in writing upon the publication of the application but it should be made before the grant of the patent only. After filing the request for examination, the patent office takes up the opposition. Various representations by the opponents and the response  with evidences made by the applicant before the Patent Office. Upon the request for hearing the parties before the patent office, the Controller shall proceed further either by rejecting the application or by granting the patent. Upon the decision of the Controller, the applicant has an option to go for the appeal against the decision.                                            
  4.  ii. Post grant application
    After the grant of patent, any interested party can file post grant opposition to the Controller.
    After hearing the parties on  principles of natural justice of being heard, the Controller has the authority to decide and notifies the decision to parties by giving the reason. The party has the  liberty to go for appeal against the decision of the Controller.
  5. Request for the Examination-Either the applicant or the third party can put a  request for the examination after  which the application is examined.
  6. First Examination Report-After the examining the application on the basis of novelty, inventiveness and  industrial application, the examiner will issue and send the  First Examination Report (FER) along with the specifications.
  7. Amendment of the objections by the applicant -By issuing the FER, the applicant is  given the opportunity to file a response and remove the objections which are raised by the examiner.
  8. Grant of Patent - After removing all the objection/defects which are  raised by the Examiner in the First Examination Report, the Controller grants the application.

Renewal fees

There is no renewal fee for the first two years after the grant of the patent and from the third year, the patent is renewed every year by paying the prescribed fee, as per the Patent Act.

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