Sound Board

Our thoughts and views on the practice of Intellectual Property in India and around the world.

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.

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 and packed with legal jargon, some are brief and get the message across. A legal notice simply outlines the rights of the sender (“bona fide” proprietor) and cautions the infringing party to refrain…

“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 imagination and the output of such imagination.

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 filed within this time frame, the application is considered abandoned. There are options for fast-tracking the examination process by filing a request for either Express or Expedited examination.

One of my colleagues received a call from the Deputy Controller of Patents & Designs at the Delhi Patent Office requesting to speak with the Patent agent who had filed certain requests in a patent matter. When the colleague enquired about the issue, the Deputy Controller explained how some applications requesting amendments were filed in the correct Form but under a different Rule of the Patent Rules resulting in higher official fee and that he wanted to let the Patent agent know about it so…

The paranoia around the COVID-19 continues to stretch the air, people, citizens and the government continue to strive to put their best foot forward to ensure maximum safety and avoid anarchy. With this, we would like to inform you that, the Indian government have been meticulous in their work and have always ensured the best for its citizens, with this the Indian Patent Office, the Indian Trade Marks Registry and the Indian Copyright Office have released their official notices dated,…

The pre-grant opposition can be filed by anyone at any time from the date of publishing of the patent application in the patent journal up to its grant. To initiate a Pre-Grant Opposition, the aggrieved party must submit their opposition representation, in writing to the Controller. This submission may be supported with additional and relevant evidence to substantiate the claims made therein.

Upon a thorough examination, the Court concluded that if a patent has not been renewed, no action for infringement would lie. Similarly, once the patent is published, no infringement action can be filed until the patent is granted, though damages can be sought with effect from the date of publication. Thus, the continuation of an injunction, even for a day, would not be permissible once the patent is revoked.

The following are the significant changes which were brought about by the Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2018 and subsequently published in the Official Gazette. It came into force on December 4, 2018.

The Indian Trademark Law grant exclusive rights to the trademark owner. The exclusivity here indicates that the trademark owner has the liberty to utilize his/her trademarks without any external interferences. The Indian Trademark Laws grants bundle of rights to the trademark holders and the rights of every trademark owner includes the right to commence and prosecute a legal action against infringement of his/her rights in a trademark. It is important that the action taken by the trademark…