Patents on Computer-Related Inventions in India
Intellectual Property Rights: Open Access, 2016, DOI: 10.4172/2375-4516.S1-009
4 Pages Posted: 24 Feb 2017
Date Written: November 28, 2016
Abstract
In India, sec. 3(k) of the Patents Act 1970 clearly excludes the patentability of computer programmes per se. For many years, the regime of computer-implemented inventions has been unclear, until the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (the Indian homologous of the Intellectual Property Office) issued its Guidelines on the examination of computer-related inventions. Notably, this gave rise the civil society’s protests; indeed, there was the fear that the government was surreptisciously allowing the patentability of computer programmes per se. Therefore, the guidelines have been withdrawn and recently a new version has been published. It openly reaffirms the exclusion of the software patents and introduces a three-step test to determine the applicability of sec. 3(k) of the Patents Act to computer-related inventions. This opinion focuses the new guidance, by placing it in the context of the leading role of India in the technological and social developments revolving around the Internet of Things.
Keywords: Software Patents, Computer-Implemented Inventions, Computer-Related Inventions, software in India, Examination Guidelines, Indian Intellectual Property, Patents, Patent Law, Internet of Things, IoT, Protection of Computer Programs, Protection of Software, IP India
JEL Classification: K11, K22, K33, K42, K41, O33, O34, O38
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation