Comparison between India and US Patent Laws

Introduction

Although all patent laws seek to do the same thing, the implementation approach and the actual laws themselves vary. What is prevalent in all patents is its position in granting the patentee all the rights of a product, thereby enabling him/her to monetize for a fixed time on their device or product.

In terms of what can be patented and how the mechanism operates, variations exist. To highlight the comparisons between the two, this article focuses on the patent laws of India and the U.S. In the two nations, the main difference between the laws comes from the way the laws are stated. A more illustrative approach is taken by the US, which specifies what CAN be patented.

No minor amendments or extensions to patents that are already issued are authorized by the Indian Patent Law. However, the U.S. patent laws offer this versatility. There's something in the United States called the Utility Patent. This makes it possible to patent a method or system invention if the discovery is novel, useful, and unobvious. In India, this isn't the case. The patent laws of India do not allow you to patent the mere invention of a process, machine, or product.

According to the US Law-

The Patent Office is entrusted with the authority to issue patents. For inventions that are "sufficiently useful and important" to the country and its citizens, a patent is issued for a period of up to 14 years. The application for registration of a patent shall be issued by the Patent Office only if, at the time of granting the patent, the grantee has sent to the Secretary of State a full specification describing the invention or development.

After becoming a member of the US Paris Convention, the expansion of patent law in the country was largely motivated by two developments in the US. The two main developments were the 1891 Evarts Act and the 1890 Sherman Act.

According to the Indian Law-

Later on, the 1856 Act was repealed, and in 1872, the Patents and Designs Rights Act was officially made public. As per the criteria, the 1872 Act was also amended from time to time. The Act of 1872 was later amended in 1883 to the Defense of Inventions Act. The 1872 Act was revised as "The Inventions and Designs Act" in 1888. Ultimately, "The Indian Patents and Designs Act" was passed in the year 1911.

India joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, thus automatically becoming a signatory member of the TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of International Property Rights). India had to amend its existing patent law to fulfill the criteria of the TRIPS, subject to some transitional allowances provided for in Article 65 of the TRIPS for developing countries.

Comparison between India and the US

1. First to file

Where two or more persons apply for a patent in respect of a similar invention, the Office of Patent shall consider the person who initially files a patent application. The patent would be awarded to the person who first files the application, provided that the invention is patentable.

In the US, if two or more applications for identical inventions are filed, a decision will be made as to who originally invented the invention. Interference hearings are being held in the US to decide who originally invented the invention. Accordingly, in the US, the award of a patent refers first to the person who invented the invention and not first to the person who applied for the patent.

2. Grace period

Where the invention of an individual has been publicly accessible in some form prior to the filing of the patent application at the Patent Office, the application for a patent would be denied. The public availability of a patent includes the sale to the public, public use, publication, lecture on an invention, introduction of an invention to an investor without an agreement not to reveal it, publication of an invention in a journal, or any combination thereof.

There is a one-year extension of grace in the US. A one-year grace period means that the inventor has the right to publish the invention for a period of one year prior to the filing of the patent application.

3. Mode Requirement

Under the US patent system, the full specification of the patent should include a written description of the invention, the manner, and method of using and making use of the invention in such simple, succinct, complete, and precise terms as to allow any person skilled in a similar art to use and make use of the invention, to whom the invention of the inventor belongs or to whom the invention is most likely to be related.

In India, the applicant for a patent application is expected to reveal the best technique known to the applicant for the implementation of the invention, and protection can be asserted.

4. Rights conferred by a granted patent

An Indian or U.S. patent is a property right that is enforceable in both countries' entire territories. The right to property relating to a patent enables the patent holder to prohibit another person from making, selling, or using the patent holder's invention in the country.

Conclusion

With regard to a detailed review of the US and Indian Patent Laws, it can be concluded that the process for granting a patent in India is very close to that for granting a patent in the US. Almost every country has its own patent law, and if any person wishes to receive a patent in a specific country, he or she is required to file a patent application in compliance with the laws of that country. Across the globe, the laws of patentability are not standardized.

know more about Patent Laws, see the video below-

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Saumya Krishnani