1. What is a Patent?
A patent is a type of intellectual property that grantsits owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention.
2. What is a new invention?
An invention or technology that has not been anticipated by publication in any document or used in the country or elsewhere in the world before the date of filing of patent application with complete specification, i.e., the subject matter has not enteredin public domain or that it does not form part of the state of the art.
3. What is the term of patent?
The term of patent which has not expired and has not ceased to have effect, on the date of such commencement, shall be 20 Years from the date of filing of the application / international filing date for the patent.
4. What are the methods to file patent application in foreign countries from India?
A convention patent application can be filed within 12 months of filing a priority patent application.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applicationshould be filed within 12 months from the priority/filing date. The time limit for entering the national or regional phase is 31 months from the earliest filing date or priority date of your PCT application.
You can file a patent application directly in foreign countries without filing in India, but you will need to get a Foreign Filing license from your local patent office.
5. What are the advantages of having a patent?
· Exclusive Rights
· Increased Business Value
· Licensing and Royalties
· Protection from Imitation
· Innovation Incentive
· Improved Negotiating Power
· Attracting Investors and Partners
· Brand Recognition and International Protection
6. What is a design?
A design refers to the features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to any article whether in two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye.
7. What is the period of protection for design patent?
The proprietor shall have protection for the design for ten years from the date of registration. This period of ten years can be extended by five years, if the registered proprietor applies for extension.
8. What are the advantages of having a design patent?
· Protection of unique visual designs
· Brand differentiation and market positioning
· Competitive advantage
· Legal protection against imitators
· Brand recognition and consumer loyalty
· Increased business value
· Potential for licensing and royalties
9. What is patentability search?
Patentability search / Prior-art art search / Novelty search allows an inventor to know whether his/her idea can be patented or not. Patentability search is directed towards finding all the relevant prior art that can be related to the invention. It involves finding out all the patent literature and non-patent literature art related to the invention.
10. Why you need to conduct patentability search?
Assessing patentability of your invention will improve your chance of getting a granted patent. In case a closest prior-art is found for your invention, this information can be used by your R&D team to improve or work around the existing prior-art. Thereby saving your time and cost of research and development process.
11. What is an invalidation search
An invalidation search or opposition search is conducted to find prior-art to invalidate the patent claims of a competitor. The objective of Patent Invalidation is to invalidate or revoke an already registered/ granted patent claims of a published patent application claims.
12. What is a prior art?
A prior-art is a patent or non-patent literature which are publicly available before the effective filing date or priority date of a patent / patent application.
13. Why conduct an invalidation search?
An invalidation search or opposition search is done to find out prior-art that can prove that a patent granted on an invention is not valid on the basis of lack of novelty, non-obviousness and industrial applicability.
14. When you want to conduct an invalidation search?
· Post-grant opposition of a granted patent
· Pre-grant opposition of published patent application
· To ensure a patent is valid
· To defend case against infringement
· To defend against patent troll
15. What is a Patent troll?
Patent trolls are companies which uses patents in order to sue other companies for infringement. These companies use patents as legal weapons.
16. What is a post-grant opposition?
Post-grant opposition is a legal process by which any interested person can challenge the validity of a granted patent. Post-grant opposition should be filed within 12 months from the date of publication of the grant of patent in case of India. Wherein in USA and Europe a post-grant opposition should be filed within 9 months after publication of granted patent.
17. What is a pre-grant opposition?
Pre-grant opposition is a legal process by which any interested person can challenge the validity of a patent application before it is granted. In India pre-grant opposition can be filed by any person within six months from the date of publication of the patent application.
18. What is state of art?
State of art is the level of development reached in a domain at any particular time usually as a result of modern methods.
19. Why to conduct state of art search?
State of art search gives detailed information about already existing work in your segment. And give further insight for R&D to understand emerging technology and trends in their field of interest.
20. What are the benefits of conducting state of art search?
· Helps you in analyzing the latest developments in the technology landscape
· Study the current competitors in the market
· Gives insight into the new technological area where you are planning to enter
21. What is Freedom-to-Operate?
A Freedom to Operate / clearance analysis searchesfor patent literature for granted or pending patents, and obtaining a legal opinion as to whether a product, process or service may be considered to infringe any patent(s) owned by third-party.
22. Why to conduct Freedom-to-Operate search?
Freedom to Operate (FTO) search is conducted to assess whether it is commercially safe for you to make or sell your product/process in the country of your interest, without infringing existing third-party rights.
23. What are the advantages of conducting Freedom-to-operate search before launching a product?
· Finds competitor patents that might have a possibility to infringe your product / product / service
· Opens up possibility for patent licensing, wherein licensing involves obtaining written authorization from the patent holder to use the patented technology for specified acts, in specified markets and for a specified period of time.
· Gives you an insight to develop new product or process to in order avoid infringement on the patent
24. What is Technology landscape analysis?
Technology landscape analysis asses the technical documents such as patents and patent applications in a particular technology area to identify the current and future status of the technology.
25. Why do Technology landscape analysis?
Technology landscape analysis provides key insights of the market and other important factors such as market position, key players, latest technology trends in particular domain. These information helps an organization to take direction to enter into a new market place.
26. What is a utility patent drawing?
Utility patent drawing is the graphical representation of an inventive concept submitted in a patent application. Wherein, the drawings must be prepared as per the patent law of the country that you are filing.
27. What is a Design patent or Industrial design?
Design patent or Industrial design represents structural or aesthetic aspect of a product/article. Design patent application helps you in protecting appearance of your product.
28. What is a Trademark?
A trademark is a legally recognized symbol, word, phrase, logo, design, or a combination of these elements that distinguishes the goods or services of one entity from those of others.
29. What are the different types of trademarks?
· Word Mark: A trademark that consists of words or letters (e.g., “Nike” or “Google”).
· Design Mark: A trademark that consists of a logo, image, or another graphic element (e.g., the Apple logo).
· Combination Mark: A trademark that combines both words and a design (e.g., McDonald’s “Golden Arches”).
· Sound Mark: A distinctive sound used to identify a brand (e.g., the NBC chimes)
30. What is the term of Trademark?
The validity term of a registered trademark in India is 10 years from the date of filing, renewable an unlimited number of times for additional periods of 10 years.
31. What is a Copyright?
Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection granted by law to the creators of original works of authorship. It gives the creator exclusive rights to use, reproduce, distribute, display, perform, and license their work.
32. What are the different works protected by copyright?
· Literary Works: Books, articles, poems, computer software, etc.
· Musical Works: Songs, instrumental music, and accompanying lyrics.
· Dramatic Works: Plays, screenplays, choreography, and other theatrical performances.
· Artistic Works: Paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, and designs.
· Motion Pictures and Other Audiovisual Works: Movies, documentaries, TV shows, and videos.
· Sound Recordings: Music recordings, voice recordings, and other audio works.
· Architectural Works: Designs of buildings and structures.
33. What is the period of protection for Copyrights?
In the case of original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works the 60-year period is counted from the year following the death of the author.
34. What is semiconductor layout design?
A semiconductor layout design refers toa layout of transistors and other circuitry elements and includes lead wires connecting such elements, and expressed in any manner in semiconductor integrated circuits.
35. Who can apply for registration?
A creator of a layout design, an Indian national or national of country outside India which accords to citizens of India similar and has principal place of business in India, or, if they do not carry out business in India, has place of service in India can apply for registration.
36. What is the period of validity of registration?
Theperiod of validity is 10 years, counted from the date of filing an application for registration or from the date of first commercial exploitation anywhere in India, in any convention country, or in a country specified by Government of India whichever is earlier.
37. When to submit the application for registration?
Once a company or an individual launches a new product with some unique feature, he/ she/ they can submit an application with the drawing, mask and layout of the circuit for registration.
38. What is open innovation?
An open innovation platform which enables startups and companies to solve problems and drive innovation from external sources such as individuals, researchers, academics and scientists.
39. What are the advantages of using the open innovation platform?
· Access to broader knowledge and Ideas
· Faster time-to-market
· Cost savings
· Reduced risk
· Access to new markets
· Flexibility and agility
· Customer-centric innovation
