History is replete with the stories of people profiting from stolen ideas and becoming successful. Fortunately, there is a growing awareness around intellectual property and patent rights today, and with it, a growing demand for patent attorneys and law firms in Bangalore. But before we get into how a law firm in Bangalore can assist you in securing your patent rights, let’s talk about some basics of patent laws and rights.
What are Patent Rights?
Patent rights refer to the exclusive statutory rights that are bestowed upon the patent holder to protect their inventions from violation and infringement by third parties. The inventions include process or method of technically performing or enabling something, and products such as devices, machines, tools, software products, medicines, chemicals etc..
The main motto of the patent law is to protect and encourage original inventions by granting or awarding special patent rights to the inventor/patentee. Once granted, the patentee can enforce their patent rights through a civil court in India by stopping others from commercially exploiting their patented inventions and making ill-gotten gains.
Patent rights are granted for a limited period by the government to the patentee upon full disclosure of their invention. Patent rights grant a full monopoly to the patentee about making, using, selling, and importing the patented product/process. The patentee is within their patent rights to debar others from using their patented technology without their consent. Patent law firms in Bangalore can help you protect your invention and exercise your patent rights effectively.
Knowing What Is Patentable and What is Not
In order to be considered patentable, an invention needs to meet three requirements:
- It must be novel and nothing of its kind should be known or publicly available in any part of the world..
- It must be unique and not merely an obvious improvement on any existing concept or technology.
- It must be beneficial for human use and add value to our lives in some way, shape, or form.
Although the whole purpose of a patent is to protect someone’s invention creation, not every invention qualifies for a patent as per the Indian laws (section 3 and 4 of Indian Patents Act, 1970).
Here are some things that cannot be patented:
- Discovery of living thing or non-living substance occurring in nature
- Scientific principles and abstract theory
- Discovery of a new form of a known substance
- substance obtained by a mere admixture of known ingredients
- Methods or techniques of agriculture or horticulture
- Any medicinal, surgical, or other treatment procedures performed on humans, animals or plants
- Plants and animals in whole or any part thereof
- Mathematical or business method or a computer programme per se or algorithms
- Method of performing mental act or method of playing game
- Atomic energy related discovery or upgrades
- Topography of integrated circuits.
- Invention based on traditional knowledge.
At the same time, anything that relates to illegal items or benefits or supports any immoral purpose cannot be patented.
Patent law firms in Bangalore can assist you in determining whether your invention qualifies for a patent. As one of the country’s major stakeholder in Intellectual property services, IPExcel may handle all your patent issues with diligence, expertise, and commendable customer satisfaction.
Claiming Your Patent Rights In India
In India, the Patents Act deals with the filing and regulation of existing and new patents. The Act allows the inventor or their legal representatives to apply for patents with the Indian Patent Office and secure protection for their invention.
At IPExcel, we can help you get your patent rights through the following steps:
- Receiving disclosure of your proposed invention in a shared invention disclosure form
- We conduct extensive novelty search for the key features of the proposed invention in all the possible databases
- Based on the outcome of the novelty search, a patent application is drafted and filed by IPExcel with Indian Patent Office.
- The Patent Controller and Examiners at the Indian Patent Office review the submitted patent application and issue an examination report
- A rebuttal to objections raised in the examination report is drafted and filed by IPExcel.
- The patent is granted if everything falls into place.
- Once granted, you can enforce your patent rights.
