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 occurring in nature.
4. Mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not enhance known efficacy, or the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant.
5. Substance obtained by a mere admixture resulting only in the aggregation of the properties of the components thereof or a process for producing such substance.
6. Mere arrangement or re-arrangement or duplication of known devices each functioning independently in a known way.
7. Agricultural and horticultural methods.
8. Any processes for medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic , diagnostic, therapeutic or other treatments of humans or any process for a similar treatments of animals or plants to render them free of disease or increase economic value.
9. Plants and animals in whole or any part thereof other than microorganisms, but including seeds, varieties and species and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of plants and animals.
10. Mathematical or business method or a computer program per se or algorithms.
11. Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation whatever.
12. Mere scheme or rule or method of performing mental act or method of playing game.
13. Presentation of information.
14. Topography of integrated circuits.
15. Invention which, in effect, is traditional knowledge or which is an aggregation or duplication of known properties of traditionally known component(s).
16. Inventions relating to atomic energy.

Prior art definition: Top Countries

United States of America 

1. An invention which was known or used by others in US, or patented or described in a printed publication in US or a foreign country, before the invention by the applicant;

2. An invention which was patented or described in a printed publication in US or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in US, more than one year before the filing date;

3. An invention abandoned by the applicant;

4. An invention which was patented, or was the subject of an inventor's certificate filed by applicant or his legal representatives or assignees in a foreign country more than 12 months prior to the filing date;

5. An invention which was described in a published US patent application by another or in a patent filed by another before the invention by the applicant (for the PCT international applications, only if they designate US and are published in English language);

6. During the course of interference, another inventor establishes that, before the invention date, he/she invented the invention and not abandoned, surpressed or concealed the invention; or another inventor made the invention in US before the invention date and he/she had not abandoned, surpressed or concealed the invention.

Japan

1. Anything which, before the filing date (priority date), was publicly known or worked, published, or made available to the public through electric telecommunication lines.
2. Contents of certain Japanese patent and utility model applications with an earlier filing date (priority date).

India

Publication in any document or used in India or elsewhere in the world before the filing date (priority date).