Patenting is not only about basmati or haldi. It is also about protecting your business from imitators and copycats, Pune-based patent and trademark consultant Satyawrat S. Ponkshe has a unique way of demonstrating what exactly patent means to the layman. He carries around with him a pen which he demonstrates before he lectures on patents. The pen has a torch attached to it so that when one writes in the dark the pen glows and makes writing easy. Ponkshe says there is nothing new about either the pen or the torch but somebody combined both and manufactured a pen that glows and that is a novel idea and this is patented.This is what patents are all about, Ponkshe explains to the small industries so that they realise the importance of the work that they are doing and the relevance of patents to their business.
Ponkshe is in a unique position to understand this. Apart from being a patents attorney, he is an entrepreneur himself as owner of an electronics firm and a patents holder.Apart from inventions,innovations and incremental improvements and uses of the same techniques for new applications can also be patented.
In India one can only get a process patent and not a product patent. While the idea for the patent may be simple, the process of getting the patent is backbreaking and exhausting. Apart from the fee you have to pay in the patents office for the patent, it could cost a minimum Rs 25,000 for the whole process. The claim has to be filed carefully to the satisfaction of hawk-eyed officials in the patent office.
So when you invent something the patent provides protection with the exhaustive right to manufacture, sell and use the invention for a limited period of time. The period for which the patent is granted starts from the date when the application is filed and damages for patent violation can be claimed from the date of notification of acceptance. Other parties have up to five months for filing an opposition to the granting of the patent. It could take anything from four to six years to geta patent. Having signed GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariff) India will have to overhaul its patent regime. For starters, India will have to grant a 20-year patent on both process and products. So even if you are neither an inventor nor an innovator, you would have to study the patents carefully just to be sure you are not infringing or violating someone else's patent.
Patents are distinct from trademark, design and copyright. In his book, `The management of intellectual property -- patents, design, trademark and copyright' Ponkshe explains these concepts. Here are some tips:
Patents:
A new product with novel construction, process or combination of process to perform a new function can be protected under the Patents Act, 1970. The idea should be filed at the patent office before making it publicly known in any way (publishing literature, press reports or selling the product).
Applications can be filed in the four patents offices in India -- Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.Calcutta also functions as the head patents office of the country. The branch offices receive applications and give each a serial number. They then examine the application independently, process it and accept them for grant of patent.
Accepted applications are then forwarded to the head office in Calcutta where a national serial number is given to the applications which are processed and then accepted. This is then notified in the Gazette of India, Part III, Sec 2.
The patents relating to food stuff, medicine and drugs are valid for five years from the date of granting of patent or for a period of seven years from the date of application and in the case of other inventions it has a term of 14 years. Though the patent office is headquartered in Calcutta, the controller-general of patents, designs and trademarks sits in Mumbai at the Trademark registry office.
Design:
When a product gets a new yet distinct look or shape it can be protected under the Designs Act. The registered design becomesyour property. The design should be registered before making the product freely available. The Designs Act is controlled by the Patents Office in Calcutta. Acceptance and registration of the design is once again notified in the Gazette of India. Designs can be registered for a period of five years and can be renewed only twice for a period of five years at a time.
Trademark:
A logo, pictorial representation, brand name or an invented word can be registered under the Trademarks Act. After you get the trademark registration it becomes your property and nobody can copy your trademark or put a deceptive label on their products. Application for a trademark can be made before or after putting the trademark to use.
There are five offices for the registration of trademarks. Delhi, Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Chennai are the branch offices while the head office is in Mumbai. In case of trademarks, the applications for registration of trademarks are filed in the branch offices while they are examined at theMumbai offices. Trademark registrations can be perpetuated by renewing the registration every seven years.
Copyright:
Copyright registration is granted for artistic work, literary work, engineering drawings and company software. A copyright registration entitles you to a certificate stating that you are the legal owner of the copyright in work. In India software is not patented only copyrighted. A copyright is valid for the author during his lifetime and for a period of 60 years thereafter. The Registrar of Copyright is based in Delhi.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
