The author of this article explains the meaning of a Patent. As per section 2(m) of the Patents Act, 1970, "a patent means a patent for any invention granted."

The article states information regarding the Acts relating to patents that as the Patents Act, 1970 and the Amendments, who is a Patentee, Requirements to qualify as an invention, what cannot be patented, the developments that occurred through the Amendments Rules, 2021 in Patent Law in India. The author provides some suggestions for the improvement of the Patent Law in India.

Intellectual Property Rights include patents, copyrights, and trademarks. A patent provides the owner the right of whether the invention can be used by others or not.

What is a Patent?

A patent is an intellectual property right, which is an exclusive right that an inventor is granted by the Government for his invention made. This right excludes others from using, making, and selling the invention for a certain period. Enactment of Patent Law took place with the main motive to encourage the inventors in contributing more and more in the field of inventions and reward them with exclusive rights for their inventions. According to the Indian Patent Law, a patent will be granted for an invention that is new and useful. A patent can be used for twenty years from the date of filing a patent application.

Patents Act, 1970

Patents Act, 1970 is a principal law for governing the patenting system in India. It came into force in the year 1972. Indian Patents and Design Act, 1911 was replaced by it. Amendments had been made in the year 2005 to the original Act that is Patents Act, of 1970 which included that the product patent was extended to the fields of technology and also to food, drugs, chemicals, and microorganisms.

After the amendment took place, there was an introduction of a provision regarding the enablement of granting permission for compulsory licenses. Additionally, the provisions relating to Exclusive Marketing Rights were repealed from the Act. There was an addition of provisions relating to pre-grant and post-grant opposition to the Act.

Who is a Patentee?

A patentee is a person who has registered his invention with the registry of patent law and has been granted the exclusive right of his invention as per the provisions of the governing Act. A right to deal with his property shall be granted to the person known as the patentee in the same manner as in the case of moveable property. Also, he will be said to be the owner of the property.

Requirements to qualify as an invention:

• · An invention should be new which means there should not be any kind of similar invention in existence.
• · An invention should be a significant one that has importance and improvement to the existing inventions.
• · An invention should be useful and efficient with all the legalities.
• · An invention must be utilizable for industrial purposes.

What cannot be Patented?

As per section 3 of the Patents Act, of 1970, the following inventions cannot be patented:

• An invention that is frivolous and claims to be contrary to well-established natural laws.
• An invention that is against the public and said to be harmful.
• An invention that is a mere discovery of scientific principles.
• An invention or a discovery of a known substance.

Developments in Patent Law in India
Developments in Patent Law in India were introduced through the Amendment Rules, 2021 which are stated below:

Patent fees for Educational Institutions reduced:
There occur many research activities in Educational Institutions, wherein the professors and students establish new kinds of technologies, and these are required to be patented for facilitating the commercialization of the newly invented technologies. So, while applying for patents to be registered, the innovators have to apply in the name of the educational institutions, and the process becomes quite expensive for educational institutions to apply for so many applicants.

As a result of this and to increase greater participation of the educational institutions, the fees charged for registration and various other processes have been reduced through the Amendments Rules, 2021. Thus, the benefit of 80% reduced fees is extended to all educational institutions.

Extension of Expedited Examination System:
A patent granted within forty-one days is said to be the fastest granted patent which was granted after filing the request for a patent. The patent applications filed by start-ups were provided with the facility of an Expedited Examination System in the beginning.

Now, the facility of the Expedited Examination System has been extended to eight more types of categories of Patent applicants which are:

SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), Female applicants, Government Departments, Institutions established by a Central, Provincial, or State Act, Government Companies, an institution wholly or substantially financed by the Government, and applicants under Patents Prosecution Highway.

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a set of initiatives for providing accelerated patent prosecution procedures by sharing information between some patent offices.

Suggestions:

• Intellectual property rights should focus on public rights and think for the people at large rather than just profiteering.
• Legislative and systemic changes must be inculcated in the system to encourage innovations.
• The process of registering patents should be flexible, not rigid.

Conclusion
The author would like to conclude that the Patent Law in India has been a boon for innovators to protect them from any kind of infringement. The Patent Law protects the intellectual property rights of the innovators. Because of this, the commercial and technological industries have gained growth in India. A person just has to follow the processes mentioned in the Act and go to the registry for the registration procedure. In this way, no one except the innovator becomes the legal owner of his invention.

The recent developments in Patent Law in India have been beneficial for all educational institutions and the additions of eight more patent applicants have increased the ambit of patents to be registered in the Patent Law in India. Also, for any kind of infringement of the patents then the patentee has the power to sue that person. Therefore, Patent law plays a significant role in every innovator's life.

References:

• Sharma Shubhangi. (2019, October 16). Patent laws in India: basics you must know. Retrieved: https://blog.ipleaders.in/what-is-a-patent-law-in-india/
• Bhandari Ambransh. (2020. June 2). Overview of Patent Law in India. Retrieved: https://bnblegal.com/article/overview-of-patent-law-in-india/
• Drishti. (2021 September 24). Patents Amendment Rules, 2021. Retrieved: https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/patents-amendment-rules-202