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…

Before we begin, kindly note that this article is focused solely on those readers who do not have any idea about patents. So, what are patents? Why are people talking about them so much? Let’s try to understand some basics of what patents are and why they are important. What is a patent?                A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention. The invention may be a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something. What are the exclusive rights?                 A patent owner can restrict others from using their invention. He has exclusive rights to use, sell, offer for sale, and import that invention. He can also license his rights to a third party for monetary benefits. Can I patent any “new” invention?                 There are certain conditions for granting patent rights for an invention. The conditions…