Unit 2 of Intellectual Property Laws (syllabus: Module II — the Patents Act 1970: what is patentable and what is excluded, the application and grant procedure, rights and obligations of a patentee, working, compulsory licensing, infringement and remedies). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- Why was the Patents Act 1970 enacted, and what did the three amendments after it change?
- What must a thing be before it is an invention under the Patents Act?
- Why can something be an invention and still not be patentable in India?
- What does section 3(d) require of a new form of a known substance, and what is efficacy?
- When does an improvement on something already known involve an inventive step?
- What is the difference between a provisional and a complete specification, and what must each do?
- What rights does a patent confer, and when are they infringed?
- On what grounds may a compulsory licence be granted, and can a patentee work a patent by importing?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- The Patents Act, 1970, s. sections 3, 4 and 5, and the amendments of 1999, 2002 and 2005
- The Patents Act, 1970, s. sections 2(1)(j), 2(1)(ja) and 2(1)(ac)
- The Patents Act, 1970, s. sections 3 and 4
- The Patents Act, 1970, s. section 3(d) and its Explanation
- The Patents Act, 1970, s. section 2(1)(ja)
- The Patents Act, 1970, s. sections 9 and 10
- The Patents Act, 1970, s. sections 48, 53, 64, 104 and 107
- The Patents Act, 1970, s. sections 84, 90, 92 and 92A
Leading cases
- Novartis Ag v. Union of India
- Dhanpat Seth v. Nil Kamal Plastic Crates Ltd.
- Bayer Corporation v. Union of India