Chennai:
In order to make the patenting procedures user-friendly
the central government has notified The Patents (Amendment)
Rules 2006. According to minister of commerce and industry
Kamal Nath, "The recent amendments to the Patents
Rules represent yet another major step forward in India's
endeavour to develop a vibrant and user-friendly intellectual
property regime which would facilitate as well as encourage
innovation and creativity."
The
thrust of the Patents Rules is to introduce transparency,
decentralise the functioning of Patent Offices, simplify
the procedures and to make them user-friendly, he added.
The latest amendments have been finalised through a consultative
process involving patent attorneys, industry associations,
government departments concerned and other stakeholders.
In order to decentralise as well as facilitate patent
administration, all patent-related activities can now
be performed by all the patent offices at Kolkata, Chennai,
Delhi and Mumbai.
As per the new rules, patent applications will now be
compulsorily published within one month after expiry of
the statutory period of 18 months and, in case of request
for an early publication, the application should be published
within one month from the date of request. This step will
introduce an element of certainty regarding the date of
publication, which was, till now, not available.
With
a view to enforcing transparency and ensuring time-bound
disposal of patent applications, definitive time frames
have been prescribed for various activities by the patent
offices.
A
patent application now has to be referred to an examiner
within one month of a request for its examination. Further,
the controller will now be required to take a decision
on the report of the examiner within one month of its
submission and the first examination report has also to
be issued within six months of the date
of request for examination of a patent application. The
time for granting permission to file patents abroad has
also been reduced to just 21 days.
Further
the timelines available for applicants and the public
have also been extended. Accordingly the time frame for:
- Making
a request for examination has been extended from 36
to 48 months
- Filing
a pre-grant opposition extended from three to six months
- Filing
reply to pre-grant opposition extended from one to three
months
- Meeting
the requirements of the first examination report increased
to 12 months.
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