Patent Act_8

What is considered as the date of patent?

The date of patent is the date of filing the complete specification. This is an important date because it is from this date that the legal protection of an invention covered in the patent takes effect. The term of the patent is counted from this date.

Patent Act_7

Can a published or disclosed invention be patented?

No, publication of an invention in any form by the inventor before filing of a patent application would disqualify the invention to be patentable. Hence, inventors should not disclose their inventions before filing the patent application. The invention should be considered for publication after a patent application has been filed. Thus, it can be seen that there is no contradiction between publishing an inventive work and filing of patent application in respect of the invention.

Patent Act_6

When should an application for a patent be filed?

Filing of an application for a patent should be completed 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 by the applicant. Delay in filing an application may entail some risks like (i) other inventors might forestall the first inventor by applying for a patent for the said invention (ii) there may be either an inadvertent publication of the invention by the inventor himself/herself or by others independently of him/her.

Patent Act_5

What are the types of inventions which are not patentable in India?

An invention may satisfy the conditions of novelty, inventiveness and usefulness but it may not qualify for a patent under the following situations:

(i) An invention which is frivolous or which claims anything Obviously contrary to well established natural laws e.g. different types of perpetual motion machines.

(ii) An invention the primary or intended use of which would be contrary to law or morality or injurious to public health e.g. a process for the preparation of a beverage which involves use of a carcinogenic substance, although the beverage may have higher nourishment value.

(iii) The mere discovery of a scientific principal or formulation of an abstract theory e.g., Raman effect.

(iv) The mere discovery of any new property or new use of known substance or the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such a known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant.

(v) A substance obtained by a mere admixture resulting only in the aggregation of the properties of the components thereof or a process for producing such substance.

(vi) The mere arrangement or rearrangement or duplication of features of known devices each functioning independently of one another in a known way.

(vii) A method or process of testing applicable during the process of manufacture for rendering the machine, apparatus or other equipment more efficient.

(viii) A method of agriculture or horticulture .

(ix) Any process for medical, surgical, curative, prophylactic or other treatment of human beings, or any process for a similar treatment of animals or plants.

(x) Inventions relating to atomic energy.

Patent Act_4

What are patentable inventions under the Patents Act, 1970?

Invention means any new and useful
(a) Art, process, method or manner of manufacture (b) Machine, apparatus or other article (c)Substances produced by manufacture, and include any new and useful improvements of any of them and an alleged invention.

However, inventions claiming substance intended for use, or capable of being used, as food or as medicine or drug or relating to substances prepared or produced by chemical processes (including alloys, optical glass, semiconductors and inter-metallic compounds) are not patentable.

Patent Act_3

What are the conditions to be satisfied by an invention to be patentable?

An invention must satisfy the following three conditions of :
(i) Novelty (ii) Inventiveness (Non-obviousness) (iii) Usefulness

Novelty : An invention will be considered novel if it does not form a part of the global state of the art. Information appearing in magazines, technical journals, books, newspapers etc. constitute the state of the art. Oral description of the invention in a seminar/conference can also spoil novelty. Novelty is assessed in a global context. An invention will cease to be novel if it has been disclosed in the public through any type of publications anywhere in the world before filing a patent application in respect of the invention. Prior use of the invention in the country of interest before the filing date can also destroy the novelty. Novelty is determined through extensive literature and patent searches. It should be realized that patent search is essential and critical for ascertaining novelty as most of the information reported in patent documents does not get published any where else.

Inventiveness (Non-obviousness) : A patent application involves an inventive step if the proposed invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the art i.e., skilled in the subject matter of the patent application. The prior art should not point towards the invention implying that the practitioner of the subject matter could not have thought about the invention prior to filing of the patent application. Inventiveness cannot be decided on the material contained in unpublished patents. The complexity or the simplicity of an inventive step does not have any bearing on the grant of a patent. In other words a very simple invention can qualify for a patent. If there is an inventive step between the proposed patent and the prior art at that point of time, then an invention has taken place. A mere 'scintilla' of invention is sufficient to found a valid patent.

Usefulness: An invention must possess utility for the grant of patent No valid patent can be granted for an invention devoid of utility.

Patent Act_2

What is expected from patentee as an obligation to the state?

A patentee must disclose the invention in a patent document for anyone to practice it after the expiry of the patent or practice it with the consent of the patent holder during the life of the patent.