Patent

Much emphasis is placed in patent law on the importance of filing for protection as early as possible in the inventive process, in order to obtain necessary rights and benefits. But these applications are by no means set in stone. There is room to amend patent applications, and in India, amendments can be done both while an application is pending, and after a patent has been granted, subject to appropriate permissions from the Controller. ......

Driving – or the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle - is not an overwhelming task for humans. But what goes into the mechanics of driving is a complex operation of vehicle controls while constantly monitoring surroundings. This is in fact a mammoth task and machines have been limited to driver-assisted roles for decades. ......

Patent prosecution is the centerpiece of the process of obtaining a patent. The proceedings during prosecution serve as important legal guidance on the patentability of the invention, and successful prosecution is key to ensuring that patent rights are protected. ......

Patents, like other forms of intellectual property, are jurisdiction specific. In other words, you obtain protection only in those jurisdictions where you have sought protection. The application process is long, and can stretch for months, or even years on end. While the end result, if successful, can be immensely satisfying and rewarding, the prospect of having to repeat this process in other countries can be quite overwhelming. ......

The principle of “unity of invention” is near universal to patent law and entails that a single patent application must relate to a single invention or to a group of linked inventions having a ‘single inventive concept’. If the application lacks unity of invention, the applicant may split the original application, and file a “divisional application” seeking protection for the (additional) plurality of inventions. ......

One of the three universal requirements for the grant of a patent is that the patent must be for a new invention. The Indian Patents Act, 1970 (the Act) defines a ‘new invention’ in Section 2(l) as ‘any invention or technology which has not been anticipated by publication in any document or used in the country or elsewhere in the world before the date of filing of patent application with complete specification. ......

You have a new and innovative solution (for example, a product or a method) that solves a problem. You want to apply for a patent covering that solution. To discuss the patent application, you set up an appointment with a drafting patent attorney. ......

If a patent application discloses any nucleotide or amino acid sequences, the description of the invention must contain a ‘sequence listing’. A sequence listing is a list of biological sequences using defined terms for certain features. This includes descriptive information about each sequence, which is known as annotations. ......

The timelines for completing various tasks or submitting various documents in the patent prosecution process differ depending on which stage a patent application is at. The various timelines involved in the grant of an Indian patent. ......