Can ideas be Patented in India?

Introduction:

While granting patents, the patentability of an idea is a debatable issue. There is not much difference between an idea and an invention because each invention is first an idea and later if it's get matured and capable of an industrial application then gets a patent for that innovative idea. Copyrights protect expression, creativity and Patents protect inventions hence there is no efficient route to protect the ideas with any intellectual property rights.

On the other hand, nothing indeed can or will happen without an idea but ideas are not monetarily valuable. Inventors are used to taking sign on Non-disclosure agreement or a confidentiality agreement at the beginning level of their invention to protect their idea. But, such agreements are only binding to parties who signed it, hence if a third party (who is not being partied to that contract) utilizes or discloses that idea then can't sue by inventors.

In patent law, for ideas to be patented, the idea must be definite and not vague. A mere idea cannot be patented but if one can portray that idea with strategy and describe its functioning, capable of making valuable asset to the business then that idea can be eligible for a patent according to Patent law in India.

Patent Law in India:

The patent is a type of intellectual property that grants an exclusive right to the owner of that patent by excluding others from using, selling, making, and sharing his invention or work for 20 years from the registration. After 20 years, the patent lapse and it's come into the public domain. There are different types of a patent like Utility Patent, Design Patent, and Plant patent.

We have Indian Patent Act, 1970 with the latest amendment in 2005 to deal with the patentability of subject matter in India, According to Section 10 of the Patent Act 1970 ideas can be patented, provided that it meets certain criteria and one of the most essential criteria should be met is invention must have practicability.

Section 10 of the Act provides some fundamental specifications which should be provided in the patent application. One of the specifications is “Preamble” among that. The preamble of the complete specification of patent application starts with "the following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed", by referring to this, it can be considered that, for an invention to become patent, it should have some practicability. Hence if an idea has the prospective to be executed and has the method and process for its working, in that case, the idea has the chances to convert into an invention and can be applied for patent by a provisional application.

For example, if a person has an idea of making a mobile application that warns about thefts and has the power to convert this thought into an invention. In such a situation, the person may file a provisional application for grant of a patent by illustrating his idea of that application and then within 12 months of duration can file for complete application of such invention. Complete specification includes a detailed description of an invention, its usage or operation, and the in-depth method of performing the same. If the investor fails to file submit the complete application or if he fails to disclose the best method of performing the invention will result in invalidation of the patent or patent provisional application. Hence, before the filing of a patent of an idea, it must analyze critically whether that idea can be performed or not.

Also the Section 3 and Section 4 of the Patent Act, 1970 has specified certain subject matters which are not eligible for getting a patent in India.

In simple words, if an idea that is enabling and discloses enough details and given to a person skilled in the related art/area, can reduce it into practice without any external help or additional research then of course it could become patents. In some cases, the controller of the patent may ask about a prototype for an invention but not always.

Requirements for Patentability:

Below requirements that required satisfying when filing for a Patent:

Novelty: The subject matter specified in the patent application should not be published in India or elsewhere before the date of filing of the patent application in India.

Non-Obviousness & Inventive Step: the idea is to apply for the patents cannot be so obvious that their nature and outcomes can simply predictable by the people who are skilled in the art. So the invention must be non-obvious to the person skilled in the art in respect of prior publication or knowledge or document.

Industrially Applicable or Utility: Idea should have practical application within that industry. An invention must contain the utility so that it can be made or used in the industry. Section 2(1)(ac) talks about the term "capable of industrial application", concerning an invention, which means that the invention is capable of being made or used in the industry. So, it cannot be an abstract idea and has to present a clear indication of usage were it to be invented within its area.

Conclusion:

The summary of the above discussion is a mere idea is not-patentable, so inventors are required to think in terms of an invention, so invention can be patented but the idea cannot be patented.

An idea could eligible for a patent if it's enabling and have enough details such as steps, diagrams, flowcharts, an illustration of the device, process that could help a person practice the invention, provided that it's satisfying patentability criteria laid down in Patent Act, 1970 then it could become patent. As per the Patent Act, 1970 the term “enabling” means, any person who is ordinarily skilled in the art should be capable to reduce it into practice by the assistance of the information disclosed in the patent application.

Therefore, to respond to this question, "Can ideas be patented in India?" that there is no clear answer to this question that can be replied it in "Yes" or " No", but it's worth exploring at the time. Hence answer may differ from idea to idea.

know more about patents law in India, see the video below-

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Sushama Dilip Mhasurle