Patent, Patent vs. Trademark, Criteria for issuing Patents

Patent

A patent is an intellectual property right.
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a new product or process that meets conditions of
- novelty,
- non-obviousness, &
- industrial use.
A patent provides the owner with the right to decide how – or whether – the invention can be used by others.

Novelty: it should be new (not published earlier + no prior Public Knowledge/ Public Use in India)
Non obviousness: It must involve an inventive step (technical advanced in comparison to existing knowledge + non‐obvious to a person skilled in the relevant field of technology)
Industrial use: It should be capable of Industrial application

Patents in India are governed by “The patent Act 1970” which was amended in 2005 to make it compliant with TRIPS.

Frivolous Invention: Invention that harms public order/Morality/ health of animals, plants & humans
Methods of agriculture or horticulture
Traditional Knowledge
Computer Program
Inventions related to Atomic Energy
Plants & Animals
Mere discovery of scientific principle

The central government has published an amended Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2020.
The new rules have amended the format of a disclosure statement that patentees & licensees are required to annually submit to the Patent Office.
The format contains disclosing the extent to which they have commercially worked or made the patented inventions available to the public in the country.
The disclosure is to be made in the Form 27 format as prescribed under the Patent Rules, 2003.
The patentees & licensees as well as the Patent Office have blatantly disregarded this statutory requirement.
There has been significant pressure from MNCs & the U.S. to do away with this requirement.

The amendment has significantly weakened the requirement of submitting information in the disclosure.
This could hamper the effectiveness of India’s compulsory licensing regime which depends on full disclosure of patent working information.
This in turn could hinder access to vital inventions including life-saving medicines.