The Indian Patent Office which comes under the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trademarks (CGPDTM), as a subordinate office of the Government of India handles the patent registration in India. Due to long and tedious patent registration processes prevailing in the country before this the growth and development of industry have been affected by negatively affecting innovations and startups in India. A lot of new amendments and several measures have been introduced by the government in the patent registration field and related places to ensure an easy process and make sure that less time is taken in getting a patent registered, thus giving a boost to the upcoming new businesses. These measures are aimed to ensure that here on the registration and related work becomes faster and required fewer amounts to be paid, so as a help to the upcoming startups and even individuals boosting the growing Indian Economy, by encouraging more new companies to file for patent applications in the country. The benefits of this new patents rule can be enjoyed globally by the startups as India is set to be selected as the International Preliminary Examining Authorities to file preliminary applications in case of any urgency or emergency regarding the registration of the patent.
A Guide to Tatkal Scheme for Patents
The new Tatkal scheme for patent has been introduced by the government for all first time applicants, in accordance to the vigilant Startup Action Plan of making India one of the best play field and growth promoters for startups across the world. The aim with the introduction of the new rules is to bring down the time of patent registration to 2.5 years by the March of 2018, as compared to the 5-7 years it took before the implementation of the Tatkal scheme. The proposed Tatkal scheme has ensured the reduction of the registration fees by 80% as per the new rules for the normal route whereas the Tatkal option would cost about 3 times the original price, as per the service availed. Internationally however the Tatkal option will only be available if applicants of patent registration make India as a choice as the competent International Searching Authority in the corresponding international application mentioning there that they have filed applications initially in India. This is asked in order to avoid the startups applying in India after they have initially applied in abroad.
Under the new filing process the cost of the application fee would be between Rs. 1600 and Rs. 8800 (depending on the type of entity), while in Tatkal scheme, the fees will be a little higher as for individual applicants and startups would be Rs. 8000 whereas for companies, it would be Rs. 60,000.
Additionally, the government has changed the very basic definition of startups by redefining it an entity with turnover less than 25 crores, therefore bringing in the space and the need for improvement in the existing patent rules in the country to attract global players and also retain the local business at the same time. Also in the recent rule changes the startups have been defined and deemed as ‘Individual Persons’ instead of a large collective company. According to the new set of rules and scheme patent fees refund is also available now, and withdrawal has been made available without any extra fees in order to improve the systems efficiency. If the application is withdrawn and the examination request is also pulled back, 90% of the application fee will be replaced. You will be paid several times due to errors in online transactions. However, a patent application is the sole responsibility of the applicant. To start the process described above, before testing and approving a new set, you must remove two or more varnish applications.
Benefit to Startups
Speedy process would ensure that startups gain traction sooner, especially if their product/ service are related to the patent that they have applied for. Research firms would also be able to leverage the benefits sooner. Additionally, the conditions for patent dispute resolution have also been modified with limited number of adjournments in court with respect to a patent dispute- twice with a maximum period of 30 days each. However, these benefits would only be applicable for new applicants.
Due to the lengthy and complicated registration process, the number of patents in India by 2015 is only 1,400, which is only 2.5% of the total number of patent applications filed in the United States that year. Lack of ideas for innovation may be the reason mentioned earlier, but a tedious process is also a major reason for such vast difference in the applications. As because of modernization technologies quickly turn old and discontinue in a few months, technology companies cannot wait five years to register their patents. As a result, the new rules allow the newly created company to maintain its position worldwide by getting the patent faster.
