While the definition of Patent merely covers utility patent according to the Indian Patent Act, 1970, the same isn’t true in many other jurisdictions. For example, in the United States, there are three types of patents, namely utility patent, design patent, and plant patent. In India, design patents are called “Industrial Designs” and are defined under the Industrial Designs Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’). India does not have the concept of plant patents and hence we will not be discussing plant patents in this article. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQPpQ8QRqXI Short Explanation about the differences between a Utility Patent and a Design Patent. Utility Patents             Utility patents, as their name suggests, protect the utility/functionality surrounding an invention. Utility patents may be granted to products or processes depending upon the subject matter of the invention. To know more about utility patents read “What is a Patent?” written by Adv. Sutapa…

A patent is a statutory right granted to prevent any third party, who does not have the patent owner’s consent from using his patented invention. To know more about patents, please refer to the article “What is a Patent?” While patents are granted after examination of the invention by the respective patent offices, these patent rights are not absolute in most jurisdictions. This means that the patents and even patent applications can be challenged at any stage post-publication of the patent application or during the lifetime of the patent. It is an established position of law in India that there is no presumption of validity of a patent.[i] Also, Section 13(4) of the Patents Act, 1970, (“Act”) provides that the examination and investigations conducted by the Indian Patent Office under Section 12 of the Act shall not be deemed in any way to warrant the validity of any patent. Considering…

As an inventor, one of the main factors which you would consider before deciding to file a patent is the costs associated with the patent filing for your invention. Generally, there are two types of costs involved, one is a professional fee which is paid to a patent agent or a patent attorney for availing any of the services such as conducting a novelty search, drafting the patent specification, and carrying out any other action in front of the Indian Patent Office on behalf of you. The cost incurred on account of the professional fee may vary greatly depending on the rates charged by a firm or a patent agent. The official fee on the other hand is pre-determined and varies mainly based on the type of applicants. For instance, one set of official fees is applicable to individuals, startups, small entities, and educational institutions, and another set of fees…

Any decision-making process involves due diligence of some kind before such decisions are made since a bad decision may not attain the same results for which such decisions are taken in the first place. As an inventor, you must be aware that the same logic holds true even in decisions relating to patent filing for your invention. You might be wondering what sort of due diligence is required before filing a patent for your invention. Here, one of the main due diligence is in the form of conducting a patent search to validate if your invention is novel/new. If you are an inventor based in India, naturally, you may be eager to conduct an Indian Patent Search to validate your invention. If you are already having a fair idea about what can be patented and what types of inventions can be patented, you would be knowing that the patent search…

           Now that you’ve decided to go for patent protection, it is time to choose the type of patent application that you’ll be filing. It is pertinent to understand that a patent protects the utility or functionality of a product. If the novelty of the product relates to its ornamental design, you should go for an Industrial Design (also known as a design patent in the US and other jurisdictions) instead. For the purpose of clarity, let’s use the universal term utility patent to identify patent applications defined under The Indian Patent Act, 1970. This article will help you understand different types of patent applications that may be filed under The Indian Patent Act, 1970. If you are unsure whether to go for a utility patent or an industrial design, read this article written by Mr. Harish Naidu, founding partner of Acura IP Services. To know what is a patent…