Patents

Pre-Litigation Mediation in Commercial Disputes in India

Alternate methods of dispute resolution are amicable methods of resolving disputes without the intervention of courts. It decreases the burden of the courts and encourages settlement proceedings among the parties. Generally, Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) uses one or more neutral third parties…


Delay in filing Request for Examination due to negligence of legal counsel - Madras High Court orders restoration of the abandoned patent application - India

November 4, 2022: The Madras High Court allowed the two writ petitions filed by the applicant with respect to two patent applications that were deemed abandoned by the Indian Patent Office on account of delay in filing the Request for Examination. In Chandra Sekar Vs. The Controller of Patents and…


Balancing IPR and Global Health: COVID-19 Vaccines

As most readers will be aware, the period of time between 2020-2021 has been marked with unprecedented disaster and suffering. The year 2020 started out with the Australian wildfires, which was followed by rising geo-political tensions, and then of course, COVID-19 spread rapidly across the globe.…


Recategorization of Patent Applicants and Implementation Barriers to Rule 7(3) of The Patents Rules 

The Patents (Second Amendment) Rules, 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘amendment rules’) that came into force on November 4, 2020, primarily recategorized the Applicants and the fees paid by them for filing and prosecution of a patent. Presently, the amendment has classified applicants into…


Renewal of Customs Recordal in India

In this current age, with counterfeit goods on the rise, measures such as recording one’s intellectual property with the customs authority in order to curb infringement is a necessity. More information regarding the procedure and requirements for recordal with the customs authority are available…


INDIA - Lifting of extension of deadlines due to COVID-19

To alleviate the difficulties faced by lawyers and litigants across the country due to the nationwide lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court on 23rd March 2020 passed an order in In Re: Cognizance for Extension of Limitation granting an indefinite extension of the…


Indian Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2020: Simplifying Statement of Working of Patents - Form 27

The much-awaited amendment to the Indian Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2020, came into force on 19 October 2020. The amendment relates to the Indian Patent Office's requirement of annual filing of the statement of working of patents by the Patentee/Licensee. Single Form for multiple related patents:…


Legal Notices in Intellectual Property Right cases: A slippery slope?

More often than not, when a “bona fide” proprietor of the trademark (I use the term “bona fide” rather loosely here) finds unauthorized use of their mark by a third party, the first step taken (often) is to send the other party a legal notice. While some legal notices sent/received are convoluted…


Morality & IP – How far is too far?

“Intellectual property rights” is a paradox, where it promotes innovation and creativity, on the one hand, it might stagnate and monopolize ideas and business, on the other. With the development of human intelligence, complications also arose such that it became necessary to balance man’s…


Express & Expedited request for examination of patent applications in India

In India, a request for examination must be filed for a patent application to be considered by the Indian Patent Office. This request can be made by the applicant, or any interested third party and must be filed within 48 months of the earliest priority application. If no request for examination is…