1)
What is an invention?
An invention means a new product
or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application.
2) What is a patent?
The Indian Patents Act 1970 defines a patent as a
grant or right to exclude others from making, using or selling one's invention
and includes the right to license others to make, use or sell it.
3)
What cannot be considered as inventions?
Laws of nature
Physical phenomena
Abstract ideas
Literary, dramatic,
musical, and artistic works (these can be Copyright protected.
Inventions which are:
a) Not useful (such as perpetual motion machines);
or
b) Offensive to public morality
a)
Identifying a problem that needs to be solved.
b)
Inventing a solution for that problem, which should work.
c)
Developing a prototype or being able to demonstrate the invention to show its
working.
d) Filing
a patent application to protect the invention so that it can be disclosed to
other people.
e)
Arranging the manufacturing and marketing (production) of the invention either
through one's own company or through licensing.
f) Each
stage requires its own particular expertise and resources. It is essential that
the early stages are satisfactorily completed before moving on.
5) What is the process of patenting an invention?
The
process of patenting an invention-
Applying
for a patent-
1. File
a preliminary application
2. Recording
the priority date (The date on which the application is recorded)
Noting
the Patent specifications-
1. A
patent specification is written in a certain format, which may not be
immediately obvious to the casual reader.
2. The
specification should contain a preamble, which describes the background to the
invention.
3. Then
you will have to write a statement of invention, which is a legal statement of
the scope of the monopoly sought.
4. After
this you will have to give a detailed description of the invention which may
include drawings and examples.
5. The
last step in patent specification is specifying the claims where the patent
maker ‘claims’ a territory of technology within which other people cannot stray
without infringing the patent.
Eg:
Introducing a new type of flavor has a very broad scope where as improving a
flavor has comparatively lesser scope in relation to patenting.
Examination
of the patent by the examiners
The examiners look through the previous
patent specifications and other literature in order to ascertain the nobility of the
invention.
They
also see to the ‘inventiveness’ in comparison to the prior art.
The
examiner will then correspond with the patent agent if he is satisfied that the
claims are permit able.
Prosecution
: the stage of patenting the procedure
The
specification filed by the applicant is usually published after 18 months,
after the date of priority.
The
Patent Office will also publish a list of previous patents, which were found to
be of relevance in the patent search so that even if an inventor has not
disclosed the invention in any way up to this point, the patent system itself
will make a disclosure and destroy its novelty at this time.
Documents
required for filing a patent form
1.
Application Form (form 1)
2.
Specification (Provisional/Complete) [Form 2]
3.
Drawings (if any)
4.
Undertaking under section 8 (form 3)
5. Power
of Authority (if the patent application is filed through a patent
attorney)
Patenting
of traditional knowledge
Traditional
knowledge is the knowledge that is continually developed, acquired, used,
practiced, transmitted and sustained by the communities/individuals through
generations.
In India traditional
knowledge including the existing oral knowledge cannot be protected under
the provisions of the existing IPR laws/acts. Until and unless there is a
substantial improvement in the existing traditional knowledge and if it can
fulfill the requirements of the definition of the invention, then the patent application can be filed. Example of such traditional knowledge is Ayurveda
medicine.
Article prepared by Anisha Susan Baby
