Interesting patents, Stupid Patent, Patent Licensing, Buying Patents, Gene Editing, Qualcomm v. Apple, Working of Patents, Patent Claims and more, presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s Premier New Age IP Firm.
Patent quote of the week
“Working a Patent is not as easy as it sounds.” – Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala, Renowned IP Attorney, Professor and Novelist
Indian Patent Statistics
This week there has been a significant decrease in number of applications granted by the Patent Offices, the number of applications have dropped down to 77 from 331 applications granted in the previous week. The total number of applications published this week is 850 applications which marks a 15.49% increase from the total applications published last week.
Early Publications
|
City |
Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
|
Delhi |
4 | 14 | 250% increase |
|
Mumbai |
41 | 15 | 63.41% decrease |
| Chennai | 78 | 17 |
78.20% decrease |
| Kolkata | 11 | 0 |
– |
| Total | 134 | 46 |
65.67% decrease |
PUBLICATIONS
|
City |
Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
|
Delhi |
255 | 449 | 76.07% increase |
|
Mumbai |
168 | 156 | 7.14% increase |
| Chennai | 173 | 181 |
4.62% increase |
| Kolkata | 6 | 18 |
200% increase |
| Total | 602 | 804 |
33.55% increase |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 736
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 850
Percentage: Increase by 15.49%
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
|
City |
Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
|
Delhi |
150 | 32 | 78.66% decrease |
|
Mumbai |
31 | 9 | 70.96% decrease |
| Chennai | 67 | 25 |
62.68% decrease |
| Kolkata | 83 | 11 |
86.74% decrease |
| Total | 331 | 77 |
76.73% decrease |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city: 8th April – 14th April 2017
Mumbai has once again topped the table with 65 applications being made from the city. A collective total of 96 applications have been made by the major metros including Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai. Kolkata has however not made any contributions to the list of published application in the previous week. Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai have collectively contributed 31 applications which is still 50% less than the applications filed by Mumbai based applicants.
- Mumbai: 65
- Bangalore: 10
- Hyderabad: 8
- Delhi: 9
- Chennai: 4
- Kolkata: 0
DESIGNS
This Week: 218
Previous Week: 242
Percentage of Increase in Registration: 9.91% decrease
Government patent updates
KSIDC signs MoU with CUSAT to promote patent filings
The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation recently signed a MoU with the Inter-University Centre for Intellectual Property Rights Studies of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) to spread awareness on the importance of Intellectual Property Rights and to facilitate start-ups in searching and filing provisional patent applications for their inventions. This is a welcome initiative by the Kerala government which has in the past introduced several key reforms to enable ease of technology innovation and protection of IPR’s.
Interesting Patents
Google patents a window-mounted air conditioner
The Tech Giant Google has recently filed an interesting patent for a bladeless air conditioner that will let its user see through the machine, while offering several cooling modes to minimize noise and power. The patent features ‘evaporator loops’ that when used with a smart thermostat helps to cool a room without using large amount of electricity.
Anti-suicide ceiling fan rods
In order to prevent suicide by hanging on a ceiling fan and due to rising number of suicide attempts, Sharad Ashani, a retired Crompton Greaves assistant general manager invented and patented an invention titled “A Down Rod”. According to the patent with application no. 1430/MUM/2004, when a person attempts suicide by hanging on a ceiling fan, the rod disengages from the fan because of an unlatching mechanism that is activated the moment when the load on the fan exceeds a determined value and the person lands safely on the ground.
Patent Litigation
Stupid Patent of the Month Suit
Global Equity Management holds a patent relating to user interfaces that enables organizing files and operating systems into cabinets. The company sued around thirty seven entities such as Amazon, Netflix, Ericsson, etc., alleging infringement of its patent. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) published a blog post about the patent in its stupid patent of the month series. Aggrieved, Global Equity sued EFF in an Australian Court and acquired an order for take down of the post. EFF has now filed a petition before a California Court asking the Court to declare the Australian Court’s order unenforceable.
University of California-Berkeley Appeals Genetic Editing Patent Decision
University of California-Berkeley has appealed the decision of the US PTAB, which held that CRISPR patent applications of MIT and University of California-Berkeley can co-exist without interference. The PTAB stated that while one related to prokaryotic organisms, the other related to eukaryotic organisms. University of California-Berkeley has now challenged the decision before the Federal Circuit.
BMS and Pfizer sue Mylan, AuroPharma, Hetero Drugs and others
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer recently filed a patent infringement case against generic drug makers Mylan, Lupin, AuroPharma, Hetero Drugs, and others alleging infringement of two of their patents relating to blood thinners that help in reducing chances of stroke in certain heart conditions. The infringement suits were filed after the generic companies applied for Para IV certification. The drug has fetched around 3.3 billion dollars for BMS so far.
Patent Licensing
Qualcomm on the Offensive against Apple
Qualcomm has filed a suit against Apple in a California Court alleging tortious interference, unfair competition,, and several other grounds. The suit has been filed in response to Apple’s suit a few months back alleging Standard Essential Patent FRAND license violations among other grounds. Apple in the suit had claimed that Qualcomm owes it about one billion dollars, and has since tied up with other players for communication and processing technology in its devices.
Patent Acquisition
Intellectual ventures stops buying patents
Intellectual Ventures has now stopped buying patents in the secondary markets. Over the last few months, there has been news about the company winding up its operations due to changing business environment and increasing resistance to non practicing entities. Readers will recall that Intellectual Ventures is quite active in the Indian market, and has been acquiring patents/inventions from inventors, professors and scientists.
Intellectual Property Publication
Journal of IP studies launched
Saahil Dama and Devvrat Joshi have launched the Journal of IP Studies, which can be accessed on their website. The journal will be an open access one, and its articles will be available without any subscription. Initial contributors of the journal include Lemley, Raghavan, Vaziri, and so on.
BananaIP’s Patent Tip of the week
Define Claim terms clearly to avoid ambiguity in patent drafts
One must clearly define terms to avoid ambiguity in patent claims at the enforcement stage. Too broad a construction can result in invalidity, and too narrow reading may make your claims ineffective.
