What is Patent and why Patent Registration is necessary?

Narendra Kumar

06 Jul, 2019

In India the importance of Patents has increased very rapidly over the last few years. It is evident from the fact that every company is now creating its own strong Patent portfolio. Now it is important for every company to know the advantages involved in getting a Patent and also how does the Patent benefit an Inventor. The objective of this is to develop a greater awareness about the Patent law in India and to know properly the procedural mechanism involved in obtaining a Patent Registration In India.

Governance of Patent Registration in India

The Patents are granted by the Controller to the Inventor(s) for a period of 20 years. Patents provide exclusive right to make use the exercise of his invention. The Act provides exclusive rights to the Inventor and also provides him the valuable monetary right which he can use for his own advantage either by using it himself or by conveying the privileges to others. Patentee receives something tangible, something which has a present existing value which protects him from some competition and is a source of gain and profit.

What is Patent?

A Patent is a new invention by an Inventor or a group of Inventors. It is a form of a document. A Patent gives to the Inventor or the application exclusive right to sell, manufacture and use the invention disclosed in the Patent. The Patent right can be exercised and enjoyed by the Inventor/applicant only in the country which grants him the right and that too for a limited period of time, normally known as the ‘Term of the Patent’. Therefore, on the expiry of the Term of the Patent, the protection ends, and the invention becomes public property.

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What are the criteria for Patent Protection?

A Patent is granted for inventions in any field of technology. An invention can be a product (chemical compound) or a process, like producing a specific chemical compound. A single product in fact, contains number of inventions. For example, the computer involves hundreds of inventions, working together.

• There are certain criteria that are required prior to Patent Protection
• Element of novelty must be there in the invention.
• The invention must involve number of inventive steps.
• It must be capable of industrial application i.e. It is capable of being made or used in an industry
• The subject matter must be accepted as “patent-able “under law.
• An application of the invention must be properly disclosed in a manner specified under the law.

Who can avail the Patent Registration?

An application for patent registration can be filed by the inventor or his assignee.

An application for patent license can be filed with Indian Patent Office either with specification (Provisional or complete) along with fee mentioned in schedule I. In case of provisional specification, a person has to file complete specification within 12 months from the date of filing of the provisional application.

Who can grant Patent License?

A Patent license is granted by a National Patent Office or by a regional office which carries out a task for a number of countries.

Criteria for registering an Online Patent Application

• Must obtain the class III Digital Signature from the certifying authorities
• The user can register himself on the CGPDTM Website.^[1]
• Create a user Id and password.

When Patent Application is published?

The application for patent registration is published after the expiry of 18 months from the date of filing or priority date whichever is earlier.

Exceptions –

1. Application in which secrecy direction is imposed
2. As per section 9(1)Application which has been abandoned i.e. when a provisional application has been filed and the complete application has not been filed with 12 months from the filing of the provisional application
3. The Application which has been withdrawn 3 months prior to 18 months.

What are the modes of payment for an applicant to pay the fees for Patent Registration?

An applicant can pay the fees either-

• In cash at the cash counter.
• Online through payment gateway including net banking, or through Debit or Credit card.

Conclusion

With an objective of strengthening its patent law, India became a signatory to many international arrangements and additionally also coming in league with the modern world. India became a member of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) system which was one of the significant steps towards achieving this objective.

Therefore, securing a Patent ultimately brings in Wealth and Prosperity. In reality, securing a Patent may lead to success if one is able to commercially use the invention. Additionally, each and every invention is different but the objectives of securing Patent protection for the inventions are basically the same. The only objective of granting a Patent is to encourage inventive activities in a practical term and is revised from time to time depending upon the political, socio-economic and industrial environment. The main objective of patent registration is to safeguard the interests of the nation.

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