April 2021 - 164.100.236.140

April 2021

Volume 1 | Issue 1

What’s Inside

CGPDTM-Figurative

Status, GII and PPH–

Page 01

IPR in News

Page 04

Activities by Indian

patent offices

Page 05

Expanding the horizons

of IPO

Page 07

Patent Pooling – An

insight

Page 09

An opportunity to innovate – RGNIIPM

2

Pearl of Wisdom: Grant is the beginning of the

Patent Game, not its end.

-Kalyan C. Kankanala

MSME Sector

IPR

Awareness

COVID

Vaccination

Startup India

Innovation

Make in India

Intellectual Property Office, Delhi

An opportunity to

innovate – RGNIIPM

Page 12

Shri. Rajendra Ratnoo (IAS),

Joint secretary of Department for

Promotion of Industry and

Internal Trade(DPIIT), is looking

after the work of Controller

General of Patents,Designs and

Trademark (CGPDTM).

The chair of the BRICS IP

Cooperation Programme this year

has been handed over to INDIA,

CGPDTM being the Chairman.

2021

I P OFFICE April Edition, Vol.1

EDUCATE, INNOVATE, PRODUCE, PROSPER, DEVELOP

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000 Jan-21

Feb 2021(Till 11/02/21)

1000

0

Educate, Innovate, Produce, Prosper, Develop

Patents, Designs and Trademark: A figurative

status

Patent Filings in the recent months –

The recent months have seen a rise in the number of ordinary filings due to the various

awareness programs being conducted across the nation regarding the patent filings and its

importance.

During 2019-20, a 63% increase in grant of patents as compared to 2018-19 is observed. The

reasons for such a rise may include the facts like – reduction of Patent application’s

processing fee for small entities/MSME; reduction in timeline for examination of patent

application from 36-52 months in May 2019 to 10-26 months in Dec 2020; ‘’Make In India”

program of Government Of India; 80% rebate granted to 4,905 patent applications.

As well, home-grown auto major Tata Motors recently said that it received 98 patents last

year under its accelerated drive for engineering excellence and innovation. These patents

predominantly relate to the megatrend of CESS (connected, electrified, sustainable and

safe) automobiles, the company said in a statement.

According to DPIIT India granted 17,148 patents till November 30 this fiscal out of 37,660

applications filed as there was speedy disposal of intellectual property application due to

infrastructure upgradation, manpower augmentation, regulatory reforms and IT

enablement. According to the data, 1,35,289 trademark registrations have been given

IPR Newsletter April Edition, Vol. 1 Page 1


during April-November 2020-21. A total of 2,78,023 applications were filed. Similarly, 9,221

copyrights were granted out of 13,861 applications filed during the period.

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with Japan

With this arrangement, expedited prosecution under PPH would be allowed in India based

on an allowed/granted corresponding Japanese application; or vice-versa, in Japan based on

an allowed/granted corresponding India application. JPO and IPO have started accepting

PPH requests from 05 December 2019. The number of requests for PPH is limited to 100

cases per year for each office. Number of applications received and action taken through

PPH route in January and February 2021 is 42.

India’s performance at Global Innovation Index

India entered the top 50 innovating countries for the first time in 2020 since the inception of the Global Innovation Index (GII) in 2007, by improving its rank from 81 in 2015 to 48 in 2020. India ranks 1st in Central and South Asia, and 3rd amongst lower middle-income group economies. Among the seven pillars of the GII, India ranks-

• 27thin knowledge and technology outputs (KTO);

• 31stin market sophistication; 55th in business sophistication;

• 60thin human capital and research (HCR);

• 61st in institutions; 64th in creative output; and

• 75thin infrastructure.

Economic Survey on IPR

To highlight the need for an increase in R&D and encouraging innovation, Chief Economic

Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian compared the position of India with other major

economies and said: India lags behind most other large economies (top 10 in terms of GDP

current US$) on most indicators of innovation. India ranks second-lowest, after Brazil, on



the overall Global Innovation Index, whereas countries like the U.K. and China rank much

higher for their expected level of development. Government contributes 56% of gross

domestic expenditure on R&D, while this proportion is less than 20% in each of the top 10

economies. The survey also noted that while the country has seen a rise in patent

applications being filed since 1999, it has primarily been on account of applications filed by

non-residents.

“Indian residents’ share in total patents filed in the country stands at 36%. This lags behind

the average of 62% in other largest economies. Resident share in patent applications must

rise for India to become an innovative nation.”

Unlike patents, the total number of trademark applications filed in India has risen steeply

since 1999 mainly on account of increase in trademark applications filed by residents. Larger

share of residents in total trademark applications filed in India is a positive sign for

advancement in innovation.



Intellectual Property – In News

Bill proposing to abolish IPAB

A new draft bill from India’s Union Finance Minister proposes the closure of the country's

Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). The bill suggests the abolition of the board and

transfer of its rights to commercial and high courts in order to streamline the tribunals and

reduce piling of the cases due to lack of infrastructure and manpower. This step would

enable for faster delivery and reduce the burden on the public exchequer, but also address

the issue of shortage of supporting staff of tribunals and infrastructure.

Office of CGPDTM:

Maharashtra

In a bid to boost the startup ecosystem in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

launched a scheme aimed at providing financial assistance to innovative startups to file for

IT patents. As per a statement, around 125-150 startups will be supported in the first phase

of the scheme with the financial help of ₹2 lakh to ₹10 lakh, along with financial assistance

up to ₹2 lakh for quality testing and certification for the startup's ideas.

Kerala

National Webinar Series on Intellectual Property Rights was jointly organized by KSCSTE

(Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment)-IPRICK & TIFAC –DST

(National Webinar on ‘IP Management in Biotechnology Industry’ from January 20,2021 to

January 21,2021.

Jammu and Kashmir

The GI tag application for Gucchi mushroom was filed at the Geographical Indication

Registry recently by Jammu-based NGO Border World Foundation and facilitated by the

Director of Agriculture, J&K.

The spongy, edible fungus that is said to have medicinal and anti-inflammatory properties is

found in the temperate forests of the Doda district. The applicants hope that a GI tag will

create branding and commercial interest for this rare heirloom crop, thereby helping the

tribal populace dependent on it for their livelihoods.



Telangana

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Telangana recently announced that it has started an

IP Facilitation Cell in Hyderabad in association with the Telangana government to provide IP

facilitation services to entrepreneurs and innovators. The start-ups and entrepreneurs along

with the entire ecosystem will benefit from the IP cell through its empanelled IPR attorney

and in-house IP experts. Apart from IPR counselling, the cell will also offer assistance on IP

management, audit and policy along with protection of traditional products through

geographical indication.

Activities in IP Offices

Conduction of long term Hindi Prabodh, Praveen, Pragya & Parangat classes

A long term Hindi Prabodh, Praveen, Pragya & Parangat classes has been undergoing with

regard to the Hindi Teaching Scheme for the session, Jan-May, 2021. Classes are being

conducted by the Dept. of Official Language with the orders of the Ministry Of Home Affairs,

Government of India. This order is applicable to all Central Govt. Offices, Nationalised Banks,

Undertaking & Organisation etc. Officers/Employees of Indian Patent office, Mumbai have

been nominated by the Head of the office to be trained in the Hindi language. Moreover,

classes are being conducted online via Google Meet platform. Patent office ensured

compliance to the guidelines related to covid-19 issued by the Government of India.

Webinars

Various webinar programmes conducted by Mumbai Patent office –

1. Awareness of IPR [19/12/2020]

2. Procedures of Patent filing in India [05/01/2021]

3. Patent Procedures [15/01/2021]


Mr.Sreekanth K S, Asst, Controller of P&D, Mumbai

Organizers with Shri Kalyan Revella, Dy.Secretary Runner ups

Group Photo Winners


4. Overview on Intellectual Property & Patenting System in India

[11/02/2021]

5. Intellectual Property Rights and patents[at Maharshi Karve Stree

Shikshan Samstha’s Cummins College of Engineering for Women, Pune]

Cricket Tournament in IPO Mumbai

“A SOUND MIND IN A SOUND BODY”- Thales

A friendly cricket tournament was played between Patent Office and Trademark Registry,

Mumbai on 13th Feb, 2021 at Chhatrapati Shivaji Krindangan, Chunabhatti, Mumbai . One



knockout match was played amongst Patents and one knockout match was played amongst

Trademarks. The winning teams from Patents and Trademarks played the final match of 12

overs. Patents scored 104/3 and Trademark made 85/5 while chasing it.

Turning point : While chasing the score of around 9 runs per over, the start by the

Trademarks was quite good,however they could not maintain the required run-rate in

middle overs. In the 10th over, they blasted off with 21 runs.But in last two overs, they lose

wickets in line. Patents defeated Trademarks by 19 runs.

Expanding the horizons of IPO

MoU: India, US to boost cooperation on intellectual property

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and

Industry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 2nd December 2020, in the

field of Intellectual Property Cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark

Office (USPTO), Department of Commerce of the United States of America.

Key Highlights :

The MoU aims at increasing IP co-operation between the two countries by way of:

a. Facilitating exchange and dissemination of best practices, experiences and knowledge on

IP among the public, and between and among the industry, universities, R & D

organizations, and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises through participation in programs

and events organized singly or jointly by the Participants;

b. Collaboration in training programs, exchange of experts, technical exchanges and

outreach activities;

c. Exchange of information and best practices on processes for registration and examination

of applications for patents, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, and industrial

designs, protection, enforcement and use of IP rights;



d. Exchange of information on automation and modernization projects, new documentation

and information systems in IP and procedures for the management of IP Office services;

Cooperation to understand various issues related to traditional knowledge.

It will be a landmark step forward in India’s journey towards becoming a major player in

global innovation and will further the objectives of National IPR Policy, 2016.

Innovate, Patent, Produce & Prosper

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare digitally addressed the

students of Shri Ram College of Commerce on their 94th Annual Foundation Day on 03rd

Feb 2021.He mentioned that “The dream of a self-reliant AtmaNirbhar Bharat can only be

met if we encourage our youth to 'Innovate, Patent, Produce & Prosper' and lead our

country towards faster development”.

India gets applause from European Parliament

A group of 14 Members of European Parliament (MEPs) has written to EU Commission and

EU Council backing India & South Africa's joint proposal to the World Trade Organization

requesting an exemption from patents and other intellectual property rights concerning

drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, personal protective equipment, and other medical technologies

throughout the pandemic. India stood up once again for the good of mankind re-affirming

"Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam which means 'the world is one family’. India called for global

cooperation on the issue.

E-office implementation in Patent Offices

E-Office is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National e-Governance Programme of

the Government. The product is developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and aims to

usher in more efficient, effective and transparent inter-government and intra-government

transactions and processes.

Patent pools relate an agreement between two or more patent owners to aggregate one or

more of their patents for the purpose of cross licensing or to third parties. Historical road

map indicates that patent pools come into picture when the technology is multifaceted and

complex in nature and it needs to put together different composites of the technology

landscape for attaining required and superior technical solutions.



Apart from technological aspects, the motivation of forming a patent pool by two

competitors may be to facilitate the partaking and transfer of patented technology and,

ultimately, making possible innovation (technological solution) without causing an eruption

of IP-related legal battle.

Pools make life easier for licensors and licensees alike by dramatically reducing the cost and

time needed to invest in the licensing process. They are a useful tool for bringing technology

to market more quickly, efficiently and fairly, and generally at a better overall price for

licensees. Sometimes the dealings and inner workings of pools may seem obscure. However,

compared to the often murky battles of individual companies over SEP licensing – think

Qualcomm and Apple, for example – they are beacons of transparency.1

Patent pools have got a significant economical aspect as far as inventing around is

concerned; by sharing patented technology, companies save their time and money required

for inventing around the technology. It is worth mentioning that efforts of inventing around

never guarantee results fulfilling the technological gap.

PATENT POOLING - HISTORICAL ASPECT

The Sewing Machine Combination of 1856 is recognized as the first modern patent pool in

the United States. In the mid-1850s, four companies (Grover & Baker, I.M. Singer & Co.,

Wheeler, and Wilson & Co.) and one individual, Elias Howe (who held crucial patents & was

non-practicing) were the holders of patented technology with respect to sewing machine;

but ironically they were spending most of their productive time and hard earned money for

suing and counter-suing each other in patent lawsuits, ultimately all this caused decline in

sales and profit.

PATENT POOLING - WIRELESS AND TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY

The creation of a patent pool is always a better plan of action instead of creating reasons for

patent lawsuits for an industry having multiple players holding patent rights with

overlapping scope. The wireless and telecommunication industry is such a technological

zone which is very progressive & dynamic and resulting in multiple patents relating to

technologies needing support of other neighboring technologies (of overlapping scope) for

getting the intended results. In other words we can say, this sector gives scope to many

complementary patents which are used together to produce a specific output and are not

substitutes for each other. One may think that such scenario invites a vast scope of patent

pooling in this technological zone, however, on the other hand some Industry experts like

Bowman Heiden, deputy director at the Centre for Intellectual Property in Sweden and a

well-known expert on standardization and patent pools, explains why pools in the

telecommunications sector have been unsuccessful so far. “Large licensors in wireless have

always preferred to go it alone in mobile telecom,” he says. “In that sector, the



concentration among the implementers of the standard, your prospective licensees, is

currently very high. In the handset market, if you license Apple, Samsung and Huawei, you

have got a big chunk of the potential total licensing income covered. Big licensors in this

space, such as Ericsson, Qualcomm and Nokia, prefer to handle these implementers on their

own.1

However, it should not be concluded that patent pooling is not trending in

telecommunication sector; recently ASUS and IP Bridge have Join Via Licensing’s 4G Multi-

Generational Patent Pool, and now the tally of total number of licensors have reached to

twenty-one.4

PATENT POOLING - ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL MEDICINES

One way to achieve better access to new medicines is patent pools, which allow third

parties to acquire non- exclusive licenses for the intellectual property needed to develop

products. While patent pools have existed for several decades in other fields of technology,

they are a relatively new concept in public health, where they have been applied to address

some of the access challenges in low- and middle-income countries. One way to achieve

better access to new medicines is patent pools, which allow third parties to acquire non-

exclusive licenses for the intellectual property needed to develop products. While patent

pools have existed for several decades in other fields of technology, such as in digital

technologies, they are a relatively new concept in public health, where they have been

applied to address some of the access challenges in low- and middle-income countries. 4

To improve access to antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries, Unitaid

established the Medicines Patent Pool in 2010 as the first public health patent pool. A good

example of improvement in access to medicines is treatment for human immunodeficiency

virus (HIV) infection. Later, the patent pool’s mandate was expanded to treatments for

tuberculosis and hepatitis C. 5

The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a United Nations-backed public health organization

working to increase access to, and facilitate the development of, life-saving medicines for

low- and middle-income countries. It encourages to pool intellectual property to encourage

generic manufacture and the development of new formulations. 6

The experience of the MPP in dealing with access to HIV drugs has provided a concrete

example of how patent pooling can contribute to addressing some of the innovation and

access challenges relating to health technologies more generally. Public health patent pools

represent an innovative type of partnership that can be used to manage privately held IP

rights in public interest. In March 2020, the MPP expanded its scope to include any health

technology that contributes to the global response to Covid.7



PATENT POOLING - POSSIBLE COMPETITION RULES VIOLATIONS

Although there is a general concord on the positive impact of patent pools and it is well

accepted that they are efficiency-enhancing, however, there may be certain instances

where the patent pools may lead to possible competition rules violations. For instance, in

Summit vs. VISX, two US firms engaged in a patent pool and developed their own

technology for performing laser eye surgery. Both companies successfully applied for

individual patent protection. This type of technology was not available on the market. The

Federal Trade Commission (FTC, one of the US antitrust enforcement agencies) concluded

that the patents were substitutes rather than complements. Therefore, the FTC found that

the patent pool restricted competition that would have existed otherwise in the absence of

the patent pool8. It is worth mentioning that substitute patents address the same issue by

using alternative technologies, hence non-blocking.

CONCLUSION

Patent pooling has been considered as a potent solution in the field of technologies since

The Sewing Machine Combination of 1856, however in the recent past it is gaining

recognition as a talisman to provide access to essential medicines to low- and middle-

income countries. Although, patent pooling may cause possible competition law violation

but the positive takes of more than few negatives. There is no reason that the rising curve of

patent pooling will deplete in the future.

1. An insider’s guide to patent pools, By Harry Rijnen, Intellectual Asset Management |

May/June 2017

2. https://spie.org/news/spie-professional-magazine-archive/2009-october/patent-

pools?SSO=1

3. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/07/07/2058576/0/en/ASUS-

and-IP-Bridge-Join-Via-Licensing-s-4G-Multi-Generational-Patent-Pool.html

4. https ://www. researchgate.net /publication/ 334667499_Patent _pooling_ to_

increase_ access_ to_ essential_ medicines

5. https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/97/8/18-229179/en/

6. https://medicinespatentpool.org/

7. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/patent-pooling-a-covid-success-

story/article31891866.ece

8. PATENT POOLS AND ANTITRUST – A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ; Prepared by the

Secretariat (WIPO) (March 2014)

*The views expressed in this article are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect

views of the employer.


http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/07/07/2058576/0/en/ASUS-

http://www/

http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/97/8/18-229179/en/

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/patent-pooling-a-covid-success-


An opportunity to Innovate – RGNIIPM

Online-WIPO-INDIA Training on Intellectual Property (Summer School)

It was conducted by the RGNIIPM Nagpur and National Law University, Nagpur with WIPO

from 8 to 19 February, 2021.

This training program provided an opportunity to professionals and students to acquire

deeper knowledge of Intellectual Property. Various lectures, case studies, exercises and

group discussions were organized by esteemed speakers. Participants were provided with

joint certificate by WIPO, RGNIIPM and NLU.

Participants of WIPO India Summer School

Inauguration of WIPO Summer School: Sh O P Gupta, Ex- CGPDTM, Dr Vijender Kumar, VC ,

NLU Nagpur, Ms Maria Stella Ntamark, WIPO Academy, Sh Pankaj Borkar, Ms Pooja

Maulikar from RGNIIPM , Mrs Ragani Khubalkar , NLU Nagpur & participants.


Summit on: IPR supported by Atal

conducted on 18, 19 and 20 February,

2021

National Webinar on Innovations &

Intellectual Property Rights on Feb 10,

2021.

Online Workshop on “Intellectual

Property Rights and its Significance”

on Jan 29, 2021.

Webinar on IPR and Patent process on

Jan 21, 2021.

Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog

DCMSME, Ministry of MSME,

Check out the upcoming

events!

1. Fordham Intellectual Property Law

& Policy Conference 2021: 28th

Annual Conference, April 8-9

2. ICMIP 2021: 15. International

Conference on Managing Intellectual

Property December 13-14, 2021 in

Rome, Italy

Editorial team - From left to right, top to bottom:

Jitendra Choure (Asst. Controller of P&D), Arpit Jain, Subrat Sahu,

Chhavi Garg, Jaspreet Kaur, Neha Gupta, Mehak (Examiners of P&D)


Various other events

Your feedback/suggestions

are welcomed at - -

[email protected]

An application filed for patent may contain some deliberate efforts of days and nights.

-IPR Newsletter Team


mailto:[email protected]

April 2021 - 164.100.236.140

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