Dr Anju Khanna To begin with, can you describe the process involved in patent prosecution in India and the key pieces of legislation that regulate it? Patent prosecution is regulated by the Patents Act 1970 in India. The inventions covered by patents in India pertain to only utility inventions. Industrial designs are protected under the ambit of the Designs Act. The Patents Act 1970, along with the Patent Rules 1972, came into force on 20 April 1972 (after replacing the Patent Act 1911). Since then, various amendments in the Patents Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and Rules have been brought about from time to time. The Patents Act 1970 was last amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act 2002 (38 of 2002). It is read together with the Patents (Amendment) Rules 2021. The patent prosecution process My Legal Life Excelling in Patent Prosecution in India India has seen significant recent updates to its patent law, with data to suggest that the country is fast becoming a favoured destination for patent litigation. Below, we take a deeper look at the process of patent prosecution in India with Dr Anju Khanna, partner and head of the Patent Department at Lall & Sethi. Drawing upon more than 20 years’ worth of experience in the sector, she shares her insights as to the most effective patent application techniques and likely developments for the future of patent law in her jurisdiction. MY LEGAL LIFE 21 begins with the filing of a patent application (provisional/complete specification) at the Indian Patent Office (IPO). In case a provisional is filed, a complete specification is required to be filed within 12 months of filing the provisional, failing which the provisional automatically gets abandoned. A foreign filing license is required for an invention for which the inventor resided in India at the time of the invention, if the first application is to be filed outside India. An application submitted to the Patent Office with a complete specification is published 18 months from the earliest priority date under section 11A of the Act. A request for examination under section 11 B can be filed within 48 months from the earliest priority date. Thereafter, the application is referred to an examiner for technical examination with respect to the patentability of the subject matter of the invention. Following a detailed examination, a First Examination Report (FER) is issued containing both formal and technical objections. The applicant
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