Patents India: Patent Law & Application

A Patent is a legal monopoly, which is granted for a limited time by a country to the owner of an invention. Merely to
have a patent does not give the owner the rights to use or exploit the patented invention. That right may still be
affected by other laws such as health and safety regulation, or the food and drugs regulation or even by other patents.
The patent, in the eyes of the law, is a property right and it can be given away, inherited, sold, licensed and can even
be abandoned. As it is conferred by the government, the government, in certain cases even after grant or even if it
has been, in the meantime, sold or licensed, can revoke it.

 A Patent gives an inventor the right for a limited period to stop others from making, using, selling or
importing an invention without the permission of the inventor. That is why patent is called a "negative
right"
 Patents are generally concerned with functional and technical aspects of products and processes and must
fulfill specific conditions to be granted.
 Most patents are for incremental improvements in known technology - evolution rather than revolution. The
technology does not have to be complex.
 Patent rights are territorial; an Indian patent does not give rights outside of India.
 Patent rights last for up to 20 years in India and in most countries outside India.
 Depending on where you wish your patent to be in effect, you must apply to the appropriate body. In India,
this is The Indian Patent Office. There are various Patent Offices around the world. Alternatively, a Patent
Agent can apply on your behalf.

Service Mark India: Service Mark Application & Litigation

The Trade Marks Act, 1999 has come into force from the 15th of September 2003. An important feature of the Act is
the introduction of the registration of Service Marks in India. Previously, Service Mark registration in India was not
allowed. Protection of service marks was available only under the common Law. From September 2003, it has now
become possible to separately register and therefore statutorily protect Service Marks.

What are Service Marks? Service Marks are marks used in any form of service business where actual goods under that
mark are not traded. For instance, a Hotel or a restaurant is a service: under the marks Taj, Oberoi, Sheraton,
Meridian, Sher-e-Punjab, Khyber, Chinese Room, no goods are traded, but services are offered and purchased, these
marks will now be statutorily protected under the Act. Similarly, marks for software services or business process
outsourcing services, or health, insurance, repair services or airlines services or educational services can be protected
by registration.

Goods and Services are classified under various classes. Under the old trademark law, Only 34 classes for goods were
available. Under the Act of 99, 11 more classes have been created for protection of service marks, i.e. classes 35 to
45. The services under these classes are classified as follows:

Class 35:

Advertising; business management; business administration; office functions

Class 36:

Insurance; financial affairs; monetary affairs; real estate affairs.

Class 37:

Building construction; repair; installation services

Class 38:

Telecommunications.

Class 39:

Transport; packaging & storage of goods; travel arrangement

Class 40:

Treatment of materials

Class 41:

Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting & cultural activities

Class 42:

Scientific & technological services, research & design; industrial analysis & research services; design & development of
computer hardware & software; legal services. Services for providing food & drink; temporary accommodation. Medical
services; veterinary services; hygienic and beauty care for human beings or animals; agriculture, horticulture and
forestry services. Personal and social services rendered by others to meet the needs of individuals; security services
for the protection of property and individuals.
 Copyright Registration: Copyright Law & Application India
Copyright Registration in India gives the creators of a wide range of material, such as literature, art, music, sound
recordings, films and broadcasts, economic rights enabling them to control use of their material in a number of ways,
such as by making copies, issuing copies to the public, performing in public, broadcasting and use on-line. It also gives
moral rights to be identified as the creator of certain kinds of material and to object to its distortion or its mutilation.
(Material protected by copyright is termed a "work".)

However, copyright does not protect ideas, names or titles. The purpose of copyright law in India is to allow copyright
registrants to gain economic rewards for their efforts and so encourage future creativity and the development of new
material which benefits us all. Copyright material is usually the result of creative skill and/or significant labour and/or
investment and without protection, it would often be very easy for others to exploit material without paying the
creator. Most uses of copyright material therefore require permission from the copyright owner. However there are
exceptions to copyright, so that some minor uses may not result in copyright infringements.

Copyright protection is automatic as soon as there is a record in any form of the material that has been created. Under
the Indian Copyright Act there is a provision to register copyright although this is voluntary.

Design Registration in India: Patenting a Design

Design means only the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or composition of lines or color or
combination thereof applied to any article whether two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any
industrial process or means, whether manual, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished
article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye but does not include any mode or principle of construction or any
thing which is in substance a mere mechanical device and does not include any trade mark, as defined in clause (v)
of sub-section of Section 2 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, property mark or artistic works as defined
under Section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957.
In India, designs are protected by two legal rights:

 Registered designs and

 Artistic copyright

Design registration in India gives the owner, a monopoly on his or her product, i.e. the right for a limited period to
stop others from making, using or selling the product without their permission and is additional to any design right or
copyright protection that may exist automatically in the design.