S.L.Soujanya - Prometheus IP - Page 2

A set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to a patentee in lieu of the public disclosure for a certain period are patents. But, when the sovereign state authorizes a third party to make, use, or sell a patented product without obtaining the consent of the patentee, marks the advent of compulsory licensing.

Patents are monopoly rights and intangible by nature. Section 48 of the Indian patents act, 1970 deals exclusively with the rights of patentees which prevents the third parties, who do not have the consent of the patentee, from the act of making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing for those purposes the patented product in India.

The patent office is the first line of patent information services in India. The office of the Controller general of Patents, Designs and Trademarks falls under the jurisdiction of Department of Industrial policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Earlier we had dealt with a broader classification of patent claims. It was largely based on dependency where Independent and dependent claims were dealt with. Various schools of thought have classified patent claims based on numerous criteria. The subject matter based classification had been introduced to study the ambit of improvisation and innovation through a meticulous analysis of the patent claims.

Claim construction is a premier step for securing an invention. They should be constructed with clarity and responsibility to minimize or avoid objections in the examination stage. The exclusive right granted to the patent can only be defined by the patent claims. The patent claims consume the maximum chunk of the time frame allocated for a complete specification.

An inventor is the best person to describe one’s disclosure. What matters is how well the disclosure is comprehendible by a person who wants to know and understand the invention in a simple way. A written description of an invention disclosure to explain the invention is needed. The description is to be simple, comprehendible, technical and within the legal framework.

An invention with or without the knowledge of the inventor may be interfering with the already existing invention. There are certain administrative procedures to have a check and balance to prevent the privilege of an inventor being hijacked. An opposition proceeding can be defined as an administrative procedure under the jurisdiction of the ...

The journey of an inventor begins with an idea and is completed when it becomes an invention. Grooming an idea into an invention involves investing time, money and a gamut of emotions. It is the prerogative of the institution dealing with the grant of patents to ensure a smooth ride for an inventor in fortifying the credentials of the idea into an invention.

Immersion Corporation, one of the leaders in developing the touch feedback technology filed a patent infringement complaint against Apple. Inc with US International Trade Commission. The complaint briefly spoke of Apple Inc.’s latest gadgets iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and Apple Watch which have 3D touch technologies being related to the haptic feedback systems, some of whose patents are held by the complainant.

The basis to the current IP protection lies in the international conventions. The industrial revolution (1760 to around 1840) paved the way for new methodologies and ideas in the industrial sector. This lead to plethora of inventions especially in the field of science and technology. This prompted the need to protect the inventions across the countries.