TRIPS Agreement

The TRIPS Agreement contains the national treatment principle and the most-favored-nation principle. The latter principle provides that any advantage, favor, privilege or immunity granted by a Member to the nationals of any other country (whether a Member or not) shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the nationals of all other Members, with certain specified exemptions. As is the case for national treatment, procedures provided in multilateral agreements concluded...

Patent Thickets

In general the term “patent thicket” describes a situation where a product involves a web of patents that are owned by a number of different patentees so that a company which wants to commercialize the product is required to “clear” all the patents involved. This phenomenon is well-known in complex technologies, such as information and communication technologies, and in technical fields where a number of companies compete at the same level so that a fragmentation of patent...

The Budapest Treaty

The Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure Disclosure of the invention is a requirement for the grant of patents. Normally, an invention is disclosed by means of a written description. Where an invention involves a microorganism or the use of a microorganism, disclosure is not always possible in writing but can sometimes only be effected by the deposit, with a specialized institution, of a sample...

35 USC 102 explained

"35 USC 102(a) THE INVENTION WAS KNOWN OR USED BY OTHERS IN THIS COUNTRY,OR PATENTED OR DESCRIBED IN A PRINTED PUBLICATION IN THIS OR A FOREIGN COUNTRY, BEFORE THE INVENTION THEREOF BY THE APPLICANT FOR PATENT"102(a) defines that US is a first to invent country and you are not going to get a patent if your invention was known (in written form usually) or used by others (practiced) by others in USA before date of invention, and if it was patented or was described in printed...

Some patent tools you must know

 Patent Library Patent Library allows users to search by patent number and get OCR'ed PDFs of patent  documents. ...

Sample Landscape reports

Patent Landscape Report on Desalination Technologies and the Use of Alternative Energies for Desalination click here to get report  Patent Landscape Report on Solar Cooking click here to get report...

Exceptions and Limitations of the Rights of patent - Top countries

USA 1. Solely for uses reasonably related to the development and submission of information under the Federal law which regulates the manufacture, use or sale of drugs and veterinary biological products, other than those products primarily manufactured using certain genetic manipulation techniques. 2. Certain uses concerning foreign vessels, aircraft or vehicles which temporarily or accidentally enter national territory. 3. As regards business method patents, continued...

The Scope Of Background Section

For the patent filing in US, it is good practice to minimize the amount of information provided in the Background section of a patent application. The field of invention section is very important as if you leave this field broad , the scope can be interpreted to include more art than is actually applicable, thereby opening the patent application to obviousness rejections. an if u leave that field defined narrowly, then the associated claims may be interpreted too narrowly....

Searching prior art with the help of Inventor, assignee and Classification

Searching through the relevant keywords is safest approach for locating relevant prior art as there is a very high chance of finding prior art, but it is not the best approach. There are chances that some of the prior art may have been missed because of the different patent language or short description. There are some other strategies that a good patent searcher should work out on. some of them are to use Inventors, assignees and Classifications, first of all shortlist...

PCT VS The Paris Convention

Some advantages of the PCT are: A single application can be filed in the applicant’s home country, in the local language. It delays (by up to 18 months) the need to make a firm decision about the countries where patent protection is to be pursued. The PCT International Search Report (ISR) often can help applicants determine how likely it is that the application will proceed to grant in individual countries after national phase entry. Even accounting for the additional...

Novel approach to locate prior art

Locating close prior art provides a critical edge in patent litigation or licensing, by documenting that the patent in question should not have been granted due to anticipatory (102) or obviousness (103) art. However, the prior art defense is contingent upon successfully locating such art. as most law firms have discovered, there is a wide range of outcomes when a prior art search is commissioned. this is dramatically evident when a Joint defense Group commissions 3 searches...

Grace Period : Top Patent Offices

United States of America  Disclosure not to be taken into consideration in determining novelty and inventive step if it occurred within one year before the filing date in the form of: 1. inventions patented or described in a printed publication in the US or abroad; 2. public use or on sale in the US. India An invention shall not be deemed to have been anticipated by: 1. Disclosures at any time before the filing date (priority date) of matter obtained from, and...

Exclusion From Patentable Subject Matter: Japan & UK

Japan 1. Inventions contrary to public order, morality or public health. 2. Methods for the treatment of humans.  United Kingdom 1. Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods. 2. Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. 3. Aestheticcreations. 4. Schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business. 5. Computer programs.  6. Presentation of information. 7. Therapeutic, surgical and diagnostic methods for...

Patent infringement

infringement constitute of illegal manufacturing, using or even offering for a sale or selling any patented invention within the country or its territories without proper license, or importing it into the country of any patented invention during the term of the patent protection.   Protection against Infringement may vary from country to country, as the patent is examined voluntarily by the patent office established in each country or region and may have some difference...

Exclusions from Patentable Subject Matter - India

The exclusion from Patentable Subject Matter for India Patent Office are: 1. Inventions which are frivolous or obviously contrary to well established natural law. 2. Inventions use or commercial exploitation of which is contrary to law or morality or causes serious prejudice to human, animal, or plant life or health or to the environment. 3. Discoveries of a scientific principle or formulation of an abstract theory or discovery of any living thing or non- living substance...