Intellectual Property

India’s latest series of amendments to its Patent Rules are likely to hugely benefit startups and small entities seeking patent protection for their inventions. With these amendments, overall filing and prosecution fees for startups and small entities have been significantly reduced. ......

Indian patent law has a unique requirement under which every patentee and licensee of a granted patent must file a statement detailing the commercial working of patented inventions in India. The recent overhaul of the information required to be submitted under patent working statements (contained in Form 27) invites a reconsideration of the law around non-working of patents. ......

Have you launched your Startup? Have you blogged about your product or your offering extensively? Have you made videos or tutorials about your product and shared it on YouTube®? If you answered any of these questions with a “Yes!”, then chances are that you may have unknowingly lost your opportunity to patent your ideas. ... ...

A divisional patent application (also known simply as a “divisional”) is a patent application that is based on, or derived from, a previously-filed parent application. Divisionals are filed when the claims in a parent application pertain to more than one invention. ......

After five decades of remaining unchanged, the unique requirement of the “statement of working” of patents in India has finally received a much-needed overhaul. The amendments to Form 27, under which the statement must be submitted to the Indian Patent Office (IPO) periodically, were notified under Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2020, and came into effect from 19 October 2020. ......

With 2020 being the year when everyone is practically living on the internet, it has been an interesting, challenging, and unprecedented year for those involved in brand reputation and brand management. ‘Cancel culture’ has gripped the world, and brands must now deal with excessive scrutiny and criticism on social media platforms and other forums from audiences belonging to all walks of life. ......

India has recently notified amendments to its patent rules which are likely to speed up, and significantly reduce the cost of, patent filing for applicants claiming priority from international applications. ......

The first administrative encounter in the long road to patent protection is with the Indian Patent Office (the ‘IPO’). Here, the Controller is the key decision-maker in matters of the grant and renewal of patents. Naturally, this decision-making authority, powerful as it is, is also safeguarded through various legal provisions so as to be shielded from abuse. ......

The Covid-19 pandemic has rendered the traditional live sports industry across the globe practically comatose. Sporting leagues and tournaments may be gradually limping back into action, but the crowds remain largely absent, affecting revenues and growth prospects. Meanwhile, another kind of sporting entertainment has crept up on everyone. ......