Intellectual Property Rights

Dr.N.V.Srinivasulu

OUTLINE INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS AN INVENTION

PATENTS

CASE STUDIES

SOME FACTS

FORWARD PATH

INTRODUCTION

LINCOLN QUOTES:

“ “ The patent system added the fuel of interest to fire of The patent system added the fuel of interest to fire of genius.”genius.”

Necessity is the mother of Invention A famous

coat

WHAT IS AN INVENTION?

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WHAT IS AN INVENTION

Invention is a new product or process that solves a technical problem

This is different from Discovery which means something that already existed but had not been found

Inventions lead to discoveries

Ex: Telescope and mountains of the moon

Telescope: Invention

Mountains of the moon: Discovery

Most of the things surrounding us are inventions ex, chair, pen18.1.2012 5

INVENTIONS IMPROVE OUR LIVES

Inventions make our life easier: car

Inventions increase our knowledge of the world: Microscope

Inventions entertain us: Television

Inventions save our life: Fire extinguishers

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IMPROVING PAST INVENTIONS

Not every invention has to provide a completely new solution

Some very good inventions are improvements on previous inventions

1980Floppy disks

1990CD

2000Memory sticks

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WHAT HAPPENS IF AN INVENTION NOT PROTECTED Inventions that are not protected could be copied, sold and

distributed by anybody

Inventors may miss out the money they suppose to get.

Without a protection, it is more difficult to license the inventions to others

Often the case could be, when the inventor won’t disclose his invention with the public or he won’t protect his invention, there may be a chance that, at some point of time, another inventor might come up with same invention and he may proceed for protecting it

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HOW TO PROTECT INVENTIONS

Inventions are very important to all of us that we should encourage all talented inventors to keep inventing.

One way to encourage inventors is by preventing people from stealing their inventions

Intellectual Property Rights: Best Protection

PATENTS- In particular

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Rights on the property resulted by intelligence

Patents

Trademarks

Trade secret

Copyrights

Geographic Indications

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IPR – A SAMPLE

Dr N V Srinivasulu

Patents

Trademark

Design

Script & User Manual - Copyright

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WHAT IS A PATENT

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention

Patent is a grant

for an invention by the Government to the inventor in exchange for full disclosure of the invention to debar others to exploit the invention for commercial success for a limited period within the geographical boundaries of the Nation

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A patent is similar to a REAL ESTATE title in two ways.

First, it confers ownership of the invention.

Second, it describes the invention in very precise terms.

These terms are referred to as “CLAIMS”

WHAT IS A PATENT

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PREREQUISITES FOR A PATENT

A patent is always granted for an invention.

The criteria for an invention to be patentable are

1) It must be new (Novel)

2) It must have an inventive step (Non-obvious)

3) It must be capable of industrial application (Industrially applicable)

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WHAT DOES A PATENT CONTAIN

Patent document generally comprises of Bibliography,

Abstract

Field of the invention

Background of Art

Detail Description

Claims

Drawings/Workable Examples

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TYPES OF PATENTS

Three kinds of patents

Utility Patents

New and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter

Design patents

New, original and ornamental design of an article of manufacture

Plant patents

Given to someone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces a new variety of plant.

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PATENTING

Why

When

How

Where

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WHY TO PATENT

• To encourage innovations

• Reward for the amount of time spent on developing the idea

• Protection to the inventors

• Beneficial to society

• Contribute to economic development

• Patents are wonderful source of information

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WHEN TO PATENT

Is the concept is truly newFor a patent to be get granted, invention must be new

Have you done your homeworkPrior art search

Any economic analysisFinancial support

Does the field welcome InnovationShould know what is patentable under law

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WHO CAN APPLY FOR PATENT

Any person (either alone or jointly)

who is true and first inventor or

Inventor’s assignee or

legal representative of the deceased inventor

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HOW IS PATENT OBTAINED

Inventor files the full disclosure of the invention in patent office

Patent Office

Conducts searches to ascertain prerequisitites

Publishes the application

Conducts In-depth examination

Grants a patent

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WHO ARE THE BENEFICIARIES OF PATENT GRANT

The Inventor

Secure from the competitors

The Public

Invention becomes public knowledge

Technology would be free after Patent expiry

Cheaper and better products available

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CASE STUDIES

TURMERIC

BAJAJ Vs TVS

MICROSOFT Vs i4i

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CASE STUDIES - TURMERIC

Turmeric is a tropical herb grown in East India

Powdered product made from the rhizomes of its flowers has several popular uses worldwide

Dye

Cooking Ingredient

PatentU.S. patent on turmeric was awarded to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1995, specifically for the "use of turmeric in wound healing

This patent also granted them the exclusive right to sell and distribute turmeric

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CASE STUDIES - TURMERICTwo years later,

Complaint was filed by India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), challenging the novelty of the University's "discovery,”

The U.S. patent office investigated the validity of this patent.

In 1997, the patent was revoked

Typical case of Biopiracy

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CASE STUDIES – BAJAJ Vs TVS

On July 7, 2005, Bajaj was granted a patent with a priority date of July 16, 2002.

The title of the patent application was “An improved Internal Combustion Engine working on four stroke principle.”

The invention was called “DTS-i Technology” and it related to the use of twin spark plugs

In 2003, Bajaj launched “Pulsar,” a motorcycle which employed the DTS-iTechnology

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CASE STUDIES – BAJAJ Vs TVSIn 2007, TVS announced the launch of a 125 cc motorcycle under the trademark“Flame” which was to be powered by lean burn internal combustion engine of bore size 54.5 mm with a twin spark plug configuration just like Bajaj

TVS stated that on September 1 & 3, 2007, Bajaj had issued certain groundless threats to dissuade TVS from launching “Flame.” In October 2007, TVS filed a suit under section 105 & 106 of the Act in the Madras High Court, alleging that the statements made by Bajaj on September 1 & 3, 2007 constituted groundless threats

Upon the announcement by TVS, Bajaj filed a suit for permanent injunction under section 108 of the Act in the Madras High Court to restrain TVS from using the internal combustion technology patented by Bajaj

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CASE STUDIES – BAJAJ Vs TVS

Order of the Single Bench of the Madras High CourtThe Madras High Court restrained TVS from launching the proposed 125-cc Flame motorcycle with the twin spark plug engine technology, as Bajaj prima facie enjoyed the right of exclusive usage

Order of the Division Bench in AppealTVS preferred an appeal before the Division Bench of the Madras High CourtThe Division Bench further observed that the operation of the inventionas claimed by the Bajaj appears to be plug centric and that of TVS was valve centricOrder of the Supreme CourtBajaj preferred an appeal before the Supreme CourtAlthough TVS shall be entitled to sell its motorcycle ‘Flame,’ but it shall maintain an accurate record of its entire domestic and international sale and directed the Madras High Court to appoint a receiver in this connection

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CASE STUDY - MICROSOFT VS i4i i4i has patent on custom XML support

Patent Number: US 5787449

The case:

On March 8, 2007, i4i lodged infringement case on Microsoft by stating

“Microsoft has used without authority its XML support in Word 2003, word 2007, windows vista and net framework”

In other sense, "any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML,"

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The Decision:

On August 11, 2009, Texas jury has given the following judgment

Microsoft has willfully infringed the i4i patent(5787449)

Ordered Microsoft to stop selling Microsoft Word unless it removed the infringing technology

On the part of damages, Microsoft has to pay $200 million to i4i

Microsoft said it planned to remove the feature from all copies of Microsoft Word 2007 that will be sold on or after January 11, 2010 Word 2010 is being designed without the infringing technology

CASE STUDY - MICROSOFT VS i4i

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SOME FACTS

Ring-pull cans: Inventor licensed the system to Coca-cola at 1/10 of a penny per can. During the period of validity of the patent the inventor received 148,000 UK pounds a day on royalties

Amazon.com protected its business method by patenting its one-click method. This not only aided the company in protecting its methodology from competitors, but also helped it in creating a niche for itself amongst a multitude of shopping portals.

Microsoft has moved from 1 patent in 1990 to over 2500 patents in 2002.

Gillette Mach 3 is protected by a strong portfolio of 35 patents (including patents on the manufacturing process), which deters competitors from entering the “triple-blade razor” market.

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SOME FACTS

Alexander Graham bell applied for a patent for the telephone on Feb 14, 1876, only a few hours before another inventor named Elisha Grey handed his application for a telephone as well.

Had Bell waited one more day to apply for a patent, Elisha grey would today considered as inventors of the telephone

Patent number 174,465 issued in 1876

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Thomas Edison:

Has received nearly 1093 patents during his life

He didn't actually invent the light bulb. What he did was improve on a fifty year old idea

Two Canadian friends, Henry and Mathew patented an incandescent light bulb in 1874.

They later sold the patent rights to Edison

Edison conducted thousands of experiments on the improvements of incandescent bulb

Later in 1879, Edison showed his Incandescent lamp to the world

SOME FACTS

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Abraham Lincoln is the only United States President to receive a patent. Patent number 6,469 Statue Of LibertyFrederic Auguste Bartholdi for his design of the Statue Of Liberty PaperclipsInvented in the late 1800s, there have been numerous patents on different paperclip designs over the years Post-ItsInvented and patented by the 3M corporation; basically a piece of paper with adhesive applied to it Rubber bands First invented in the 1800s, rubber bands took the world by storm. They were patented in 1845 by Stephen Perry. No one has since improved on the basic rubber band design - maybe there's a new invention waiting to happen!

SOME FACTS

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TREND OF APPLICATIONS FILEDPatent filings at Indian Patent office (IPO)

The IPO output has been increasing, as can be seen in the 20% growth in the number of granted patents.

During 2008–09, the IPO awarded 18,230 patents as against the 15,262 granted in the previous fiscal year

NEED TO IMPROVE

As per the trends published by Indian Patent Office (IPO) The number of applications for patents filed in 2007-2008 was 35,218,

Out of which the applications for patents originated in India were only 6,040

i.e. contributing approximately 17%

Majority of the remaining applications (more than 23000) came through PCT National Phase route by foreign residents

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Comparative filings of neighboring countries

As per the trends released by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for 2007

Patent filings

More than 4 lakhs in Japan

Around 1.57 lakhs in China 

Filing of PCT international application

Around 28 thousand by Japan

Around 4 thousand by China

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SOME INITIATIVES TO SPREAD IP AWARENESS

Early-stage awareness

Introducing the topics related to patent at the elementary school level

Universities, research centers and academia should popularize the IP

Regular workshops and seminars

To sensitize the young entrepreneurs

An IP policy under separate Ministry

Media

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FORWARD PATH

Lets spread the patent literacy or awareness for the economic, social and cultural development of INDIA

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Intellectual Property rights is to help

Students, Industrialists, and Individuals

to secure their inventions and to impart knowledge on patents

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Many times students invent ideas without even realizing it.

If we ask students if there was ever a time when they were playing with a game or a toy that they wished it worked a different way or had been created in a completely different manner, most of the students will say `YES’.

HOW IPR CAN BENEFIT STUDENTS

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After analyzing the ideas of the students, IPR will help students in obtaining Patents for their inventive work.

This will guide students in each and every step from start to finish in the patenting process

HOW IPR CAN BENEFIT STUDENTS

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Enhancing their CVs

Identifying themselves as an inventor can make their resume or job application stand out from the crowd.

Employers may see them as a problem solver and creative thinker - a desirable feature in most organizations.

Also, discussing their inventions during an interview can set you apart from other applicants being interviewed for the position

HOW CAN STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM PATENTING THEIR IDEAS

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Launch A New Business

An invention may be the foundation of a new business based on a product or service related to the invention.

Although they are not required to commercialize an invention, a great invention can be the start of a great business venture.

HOW CAN STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM PATENTING THEIR IDEAS

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Commercialization

If they are not ready to launch a new business themselves, they might be able to sell or license the rights to their invention.

The real fruits of the patented technology innovations only come through commercialization which can earn them royalty if technology is transferred

HOW CAN STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM PATENTING THEIR IDEAS

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SANTHARAM KONDURU REGISTERED PATENT AGENT

santharam@adhikariipc.comWebsite: www.adhikariipc.com

Registered Office

154, Triveni Towers, MIG-I, Road No 1, KPHB Colony. Hyderabad -500072. Mob: +91 9393953001, Tel: (040)

4027-3000/3008Fax: (040) 4027-3001/3009, Email : info@adhikariipc.com

US Office:290 Parkmoor Avenue, 3rd floor, San Jose, CA 95126, USA

Tel: 925-200-7303, Fax: 206-339-3443 46

Contact a IPR consultants in HYDERABAD at

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THANK YOU

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