PATENTS

A Patent as defined under the Patents Act, 1970 is a grant to the inventor, for a limited period of time, the exclusive right to make, use, exercise and vend his invention. After the expiry of the term, the invention becomes open to the public for use.

The object of the act is to recognize the exclusive right of the inventor so that he can gain commercial advantage for his efforts.

The invention to be patentable, must be new, useful and non-obvious.

There can be no novelty if the invention is previously published and used. It must also be non-obvious to a person possessed of average skill in the art to which the invention relates. Besides being novel and non-obvious, it is essential that the invention is useful commercially. The concept of Utility Models (non-useful inventions) is not recognized in India.

The inventor must make a full disclosure of invention in the form of complete specifications so that others who use it after the expiry of the patent can benefit from it.

In the case of medicines, food items and chemicals, no product patent is granted and only the process of manufacture can be protected.

India being a part of the WTO has amended the act and has inserted a chapter which deals with Exclusive Marketing Rights to sell and distribute articles in India to comply with the TRIP's Agreement. The EMR grants a monopoly to the patented applicant even before the grant of patent to distribute and market his product in India without the same having been examined. Production of the article in India is not compulsory and the product can be imported and sold in India.

India was initially reluctant to adopt such provisions, but was compelled to do so when the United States of America filed a dispute with the WTO seeking to force India to abide by the requirements of the TRIPs Agreement.