In-depth analytical articles on Indian patent law including prosecution,enforcement, statutory interpretation and case developments.
If the specification is the heart of a patent application, the claims are its spine. Every structural decision in the specification how the invention is described, what embodiments are disclosed, which prior art is distinguished ultimately serves the claims, because it is the claims alone that define the legal boundary of the monopoly that the […]
Claim Drafting for Indian Patents – Types, Scope and Strategy Read More »
The specification is the heart of a patent application. Every other element of the application the claims, the abstract, the drawings derives its meaning and its legal validity from the specification and the quality of the specification determines, more than any other single factor, both the prospect of grant and the value of the patent
Specification Writing in Indian Patent Practice – Complete and Provisional Read More »
Few provisions in the entire canon of global intellectual property law have attracted as much sustained attention, controversy and scholarly debate as Section 3(d) of the Patents Act, 1970. In the two decades since India inserted this provision into its patent statute as part of the 2005 amendment that brought the country into compliance with
Section 3(d) and the Evergreening Debate in Indian Pharma Patents Read More »
Among the three foundational criteria that a patent applicant must satisfy to obtain a grant novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability industrial applicability is perhaps the least litigated and the least theoretically contested, yet it performs an indispensable function in defining the outer boundary of the patent system’s reach. It is the criterion that ensures
Industrial Applicability as a Patentability Criterion under the Patents Act, 1970 Read More »
A patent, once granted, is not inviolable. The Patents Act, 1970 recognizes that the grant of a patent is an administrative act performed on the basis of an examination that, however thorough, may not always capture every deficiency in an application whether a failure of novelty, an insufficient disclosure, a statutory exclusion that was not
Revocation of Patents under Section 64 – Grounds and Procedure Read More »
The journey of a patent application in India does not end with filing. In many respects, it begins in earnest only when the Indian Patent Office issues what is formally known as the First Examination Report – the FER. For applicants who are new to the Indian patent system, the FER can appear daunting: a
Understanding the First Examination Report (FER) and How to Respond Read More »
The grant of a patent is not an automatic entitlement that follows from novelty or inventive step alone. Before any invention can be examined on those standard criteria, it must first clear a foundational threshold: it must constitute a patentable subject matter under Indian law. The Patents Act, 1970 draws this threshold with deliberate precision
Non-Patentable Subject Matter in India: A Complete Guide to Section 3 Read More »
Patent licensing and technology transfer are among the most commercially significant yet legally complex dimensions of intellectual property practice in India. As the country accelerates its transformation into a global innovation hub – with rising domestic patent filings, expanding pharmaceutical and technology sectors and deepening integration into international R&D supply chains – the ability to
Patent Licensing and Technology Transfer in India Read More »
Artificial intelligence and software are transforming every sector of the economy – from drug discovery and autonomous vehicles to financial modeling and legal research. As these technologies generate increasingly sophisticated outputs, the question of whether they can be protected by patents has become one of the most contested and consequential debates in intellectual property law.
Patentability of AI and Software Inventions in India Read More »
Novelty is the first and most fundamental criterion for patentability under Indian patent law. Before any question of inventive step, industrial applicability or statutory exclusion arises, the threshold question is always the same – is the invention new? If it is not, the inquiry ends there. No amount of technical sophistication, commercial significance or inventive
Novelty as a Criterion for Patentability in India Read More »