Tag: novelty

Patents are granted for inventions that are novel and involve an inventive step. Any information or material that is publicly available or published before the filing of a patent application is known as “prior art” and this forms the basis on which novelty and inventive step is determined. ......

Inventions that fall within, or overlap with, disclosures in the prior art are called “selection inventions”. Generally, selection inventions involve the selection of one or more specific embodiments, such as individual elements, subsets, or sub-ranges, within a larger known set or range disclosed in the prior art. This raises critical questions around how the novelty and inventive step of selection patents should be judged. ......

From filing a patent to its eventual grant, there are various stages that a patent application goes through in India. Patent filing is the primary step an inventor must initiate to protect their invention from being misused. Before a patent is granted, the Indian Patent Office (IPO) meticulously examines it, to ensure that the innovation sought to be patented is novel and involves an inventive step based on specific criteria. ......

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. ... ...

Over the years, a large number of patents have been granted for antibodies all over the world. The world is also seeing a shift towards biologic based drugs. Most of the top-selling drugs in 2018 were monoclonal antibodies with HUMIRA® leading the list. With the progress in the art and growing case law in this area, the criteria for patentability of antibodies are becoming increasingly strict, with restrictions on the scope of the claims. ...

Can the Controller of Designs refuse to register a design for lacking novelty after the applicant deletes some representations of the design on the recommendation of the examiner? A recent decision of the Calcutta High Court points out that an examination report only facilitates the controller’s final decision, and concludes that a design application can be refused registration even after it is amended. The decision also clarifies the role of the examiner and controller in the design registration process....

In a recent case, Kamdhenu, manufacturers of steel rods had obtained a design registration in 2014 for a certain type of steel bars it was manufacturing. It alleged that Aashiana had infringed its registered design, and successfully obtained an interim injunction against the latter company.A speedy disposal of the injunction was issued once the matter was contested by Aashiana. Here’s a look at what led to this rather quick decision by the court and what it could mean towards ensuring that the rights of the parties are truly protected in theory as well as practice....