Inhalt

Preface

Preface

Patents are a key component of intellectual property and vital to the process of innovation. They serve multiple uses. One is to reward inventors and motivate them to create inventing for the betterment of society, inculcating a culture of innovation. Another is to protect inventors from getting their ideas stolen and profited from by unscrupulous people.

In this book we introduce the laws related to patents and Intellectual property in India, as well as an overview of patenting and filing process. We also discuss some tips on how to make a good patent.

About the authors

About the authors

Siva Prasad Bose is a retired electrical engineer and writer of introductory guides on aspects of law in India. He received his engineering degree from Jadavpur University, Kolkata and has a law degree from Meerut University, Meerut. His interests lie in the fields of family law, civil law, law of contracts, and any areas of law related to power electricity related issues.

Joy Bose is a data scientist and researcher by profession. He has 6 granted patents in USPTO, 2 granted patents in India Patent Office, one granted patent in European Patent Office and more than 20 filed patents in various patent offices.

1. Introduction to Patent Laws in India

Introduction to Patent Laws in India

Patents along with trademarks and copyright come under Intellectual property or IP. In this chapter we give an overview of the Intellectual Property (IP) law in India, what are the types of intellectual property and what is covered under the patent law.

1.1 What is intellectual property (IP)

Intellectual property refers to creations of the human mind. They include copyrights, trademarks, patents and industrial designs.

1.1.1 Patents

Patent are granted for inventions of a product or process for manufacturing a product. They give rights to the inventors of the product to prevent the from being copied by others.

1.1.2 Industrial designs

These cover the visual design of the product, including its look and feel. It can include characteristics like shape and color of the product. Examples include design of a chip.

1.1.3 Geographical indicators

These refer to products that refer to a country or place where the product is associated with as been manufactured. An example is Alphonso mango or Banarasi sarees.

1.1.4 Copyrights

Copyright refers to created works including books, as well as artistic works such as songs and paintings. The laws around copyrights are intended to prevent the created works from being copied, and ensure that the original creator alone gets to profit from their created work.

1.1.5 Trademarks

Trademarks are granted for unique visual symbols or indicators of a manufacturer or vendors of products, such as logo of a company. They are registered under the trade-mark registry. The aim of trademarks is to make sure the product is not copied and is an indicator of the quality and brand of the product, so the customers and other stakeholders can identify it when deciding the buy the product.

1.2 What is the Patent law in India

The IP law in India comprises of a number of laws including the Copyright Act 1957 (governing copyrights), Patents Act 1970, Trademarks Act 1999, Designs Act 2000 (covering industrial designs) and so on.

In this book we focus on the laws related to patents.

Patent law in India is governed by the acts in the following subsections.

1.2.1 Patents Act 1970

This is the original act that consolidates the patent laws in India. This has been amended by the Patents Amendment Act of 2005.

Some of the important sections of the Patents Act 1970 are as follows:

Section 3 specifies what are not considered as inventions under the Act: (words of the act are in italics)

• an invention which is frivolous or which claims anything obviously contrary to well established natural laws;

• an invention the primary or intended use or commercial exploitation of which could be contrary public order or morality or which causes serious prejudice to human, animal or plant life or health or to the environment;

• the mere discovery of a scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory or discovery of any living thing or non-living substance occurring in nature;

• the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine

Impressum

Nächste Seite

Nächste Seite

Seite 1 /