Patent

The Madras High Court earlier this year rejected a writ petition filed against a patent owned by Kibow Biotech Inc. for a dietary supplement that aids in the carrying out of the kidney function, for reasons, among others, that there was no expert evidence led to support the case. The validity of the patent was challenged primarily under Section 3(e) of the Patents Act, i.e., on grounds that it was “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”....

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have issued draft rules to amend the Patent Rules, 2003 (available here: See). The following major changes have been proposed in these draft rules: ...

Essenese Obhan, Managing Partner at Obhan & Associates, explores the two clauses that clarify how a nucleic acid sequence, without indication of a function, does not contain any technical information and is not a patentable invention. The key requirement of patentability is that the invention must be ‘capable of industrial application’; claim construction must be based on it being non-obvious and useful. These are the aspects studied to understand why nucleic acid sequences don’t fall in the the patentable category....

Sumathi Chandrashekaran of Obhan & Associates looks into the possible implications of a recent tender regarding blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning, issued by the IPO. The changes that would come about as a result of these implementations would dramatically improve user experience of the IPO services. Here’s a closer look at what the impact would be at each stage of application and grant....

The first post trial SEP case, involving both patent and competition laws, has given SEP holders some relief. The Philips case involving its patents relating to DVD video players, offered an interesting and relevant platform for jurisprudence on cutting edge patent and anti-trust issues such as essentiality, standard setting, and exhaustion. This article discusses the facts of the case and the various reasons why the decision of the Delhi High Court is far from satisfactory and is likely to cause some heartburn to implementors....

Can protected IP be used for commercial gain? What is the royalty associated, and whether it is a means of adequate remuneration for the IP owner or a barrier to access for prospective licensee. The article discusses these issues and is a part of a series of articles that will address the matter in totality....

The research team at Obhan & Associates have conducted a study to understand the number of women patent applicants in India. It has been heartening to see a considerable rise in the percentage of women applicants since a 2014 article that appeared on the subject. The article looks at, briefly, the role of women in IP the world over, and identifies avenues of further study that can eventually help define policy choices in the future....

The Delhi High court comes to a decision in the ongoing dispute between the Monsanto Group of Companies and the Nuziveedu Group of Companies. A far-reaching decision and the first on the patentability of genetically modified plants, the court has held that genetically modified plants, genetically modified seeds and gene sequences that provide genetic traits to plants are not patentable subject matter in India. ...

Law requires patent holders to submit statements of working on a regular basis. Since in many cases the requirement is not being complied with, a public interest litigation was filed in the Delhi High Court in 2015, asking the Patent Office to take action against those who did not submit this information. The IPO called for comments as a pre-cursor to hosting a stakeholder consultation on the issue of working of patents. ...