Patents
Perspectives on patents across India and the subcontinent.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 1 April 2025
Method Claims Are Patentable: Madras HC on Section 3(m) (Robert Bosch)
The Patent Office refused a Bosch method claim under Section 3(m), saying it made no physical product. The Madras High Court disagreed — a technical process run through sensors and controllers is patentable, and refusing on an unraised ground breached natural justice.
22 November 2024
A Non-Speaking Refusal Won't Stand: Madras HC Sets Aside a Patent Rejection
The Deputy Controller refused a crystalline-form patent under Sections 3(d) and 3(e) without engaging with the applicant's expert evidence, and relied on prior art published after the priority date. The Madras High Court set the order aside and sent it back — to a different officer.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 19 October 2024
Patents on Biological Resources: The NBA Approval You Can't Skip
If your invention uses an Indian biological resource, the Biological Diversity Act requires National Biodiversity Authority approval before the patent is granted. Why it exists, when it applies, and how to obtain it.
Adlin Mini M and Keerthana K · 9 September 2024
The Jan Vishwas Act, 2023: What Changed for IP Law in India
The Jan Vishwas Act decriminalised a swathe of IP offences from 1 August 2024 — replacing imprisonment with fines and turnover-linked penalties across the Patents, Trade Marks, Copyright and GI Acts.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 27 August 2024
Form 27 Now Every Three Years: The 2024 Statement of Working Change
The Patents Amendment Rules, 2024 cut Form 27 filing from annual to once every three years — and mean no working statement was due in 2024. The new deadlines, explained.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 26 July 2024
Statement of Working of Patents in India (Form 27): What to File and When
Every patentee and licensee in India must file Form 27 telling the Patent Office whether the patent is being worked. What it asks, the once-a-financial-year deadline, and what happens if you skip it.
Shehnaz Latheef · 22 July 2024
When Your Agent Drops the Ball: The Push for a Code of Conduct for IP Agents
A patent lapsed because the agent never properly told the applicant about the examination report. The Delhi High Court revived it — and ordered the IP Office to create a Code of Conduct for patent and trademark agents.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 8 June 2024
A Four-Day Delay Need Not Kill a Patent: Rule 137 and the Controller's Discretion
The Madras High Court reinstated a patent application abandoned over a four-day-late FER response, holding the Controller has discretion under Rule 137 to condone such delays — and must actually consider a condonation request.
25 March 2024
The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024: What Changed
In force from 15 March 2024, the amended Patent Rules cut the RFE window to 31 months, eased Form 3 and Form 27 burdens, added a renewal-fee discount for advance payment, and allowed voluntary divisional applications. A rundown of the key changes.
29 August 2023
Divisional Patent Applications: Section 16(1) in Syngenta v. Controller
Can you file a divisional patent application voluntarily, or only to answer a Controller's objection? A single judge read Section 16(1) narrowly against Syngenta — a reading a Delhi HC Division Bench soon revisited and settled in favour of suo-moto divisionals.
25 August 2023
The Draft Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2023 — and What Was Enacted
The draft proposed cutting the examination request deadline from 48 to 31 months, moving Form 27 to a three-year cycle, easing Section 8, and adding Form 31 for prior public display. Most of it was enacted in March 2024.
Advika Muralidharan · 12 August 2023
A Judicial Lens on India's IP Reality: Cut-Paste Orders and Delay
Blank orders, 'mechanical cut-paste' patent refusals, irrelevant prior art, near-expired patents — a run of Delhi High Court rulings has laid bare how unreasoned IPO/TMO decisions harm innovators. A survey of the cases, and the transparency reforms they demand.