Patents
Perspectives on patents across India and the subcontinent.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 26 July 2023
Restoring Abandoned Patents: Courts on Missed Examination Deadlines
Miss the deadline to request examination or answer the FER, and your patent is deemed abandoned. But recent Delhi High Court rulings show courts will restore applications in exceptional cases — counsel's negligence, no intent to abandon — since abandonment needs a conscious act.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 16 December 2022
When Courts Extend Patent Deadlines: Abandonment Requires Intention
Missing the examination request or FER deadline abandons the application. But courts have held that abandonment requires a conscious act showing intention to abandon — and have extended time where the agent was negligent and the applicant was not.
Jacob Ninan · 18 November 2022
Who Can File a Request for Examination of a Patent in India?
An Indian patent application isn't examined until a request for examination is filed — and not only the applicant can file it. Who counts as a 'person interested', how the courts read that inclusive definition, and the current RFE timeline.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 12 November 2022
After the IPAB: Which High Court Hears Patent Appeals and Revocations?
With the IPAB abolished, patent appeals and revocation petitions moved to the High Courts — but which one? The Delhi High Court set the rules: appeals follow the 'appropriate office', revocations lie where the patent's effect is felt.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 5 November 2022
Counsel's Negligence Shouldn't Kill Your Patent: Madras HC Restores an Abandoned Application
A docketing error by local counsel meant a patent's request for examination was filed late — and the Patent Office abandoned it. The Madras High Court restored it, holding an agent's negligence can't extinguish an applicant's statutory rights.
Philip Koshi · 22 November 2021
Patents and Vaccine Access: The COVID-19 TRIPS Waiver Debate
Oxford promised to donate its vaccine rights to any manufacturer, then signed exclusively with AstraZeneca — on research reportedly 97% publicly funded. India and South Africa's TRIPS waiver proposal followed, and the Doha Declaration was always there.
Subhikssha K · 20 July 2021
Patent Applicant Recategorization and the Rule 7(3) Fee Puzzle
The 2020 Patents Rules gave small entities the same reduced fees as startups and individuals — but Rule 7(3) requires paying the fee difference when an application transfers to a large entity. Why calculating that difference is a practical headache, and how to fix it.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 9 February 2021
Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2020: A Simpler Form 27 (Working Statement)
The 2020 Rules made the annual 'statement of working' (Form 27) far simpler — one form for related patents, a longer filing window, and much less required data. What changed, the new deadlines, and the priority-document rules for PCT applications.
7 December 2020
AI and Intellectual Property: The Questions WIPO Started Asking
Innovation was until recently a defining characteristic of the human species. Machine learning has unsettled that, and IP frameworks built entirely around human authorship and inventorship are still working out what to do about it.
3 November 2020
Morality and IP: How Far Is Too Far?
Trademarks and patents can be refused on morality grounds — scandalous marks, inventions contrary to public order. But copyright has no such bar. How the three IP regimes treat 'morality', and why the terms stay undefined.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 29 July 2020
Express vs Expedited Patent Examination in India: Which One and When
A patent in India is not examined until you request it — and if you want it fast, there are two routes. How express and expedited examination differ, who qualifies, and what each costs.
Raja Pannir Selvam · 15 June 2020
A Patent-Practice Tip Worth Sharing: Rule 90 vs Rule 94 Forms
A Controller's courtesy call flagged a common filing slip: amendment requests filed under the wrong Rule, attracting a higher fee. A 'pay it forward' note on which forms to use for Rule 90 (transfer) versus Rule 94 (name/address) amendments in Indian patents.