“Patent News Bulletin: Indian Patent Statistics, Indian Industrial Design Statistics, Interesting Inventions, Highlights of the 12th Edition of the Global Innovation Index 2019, Delhi High Court grants interim relief to Natco Pharma Ltd; Vodafone joins LTE patent pool of Via Licensing Corporation; KIPO observes filings of 16,991 PCT Applications, in 2018, China launches the establishment of a National Centre that offers guidance on IP related disputes and other news updates”, presented to you by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s leading Patent Firm.
INDIAN PATENT STATISTICS
A total of 1136 patent applications have been published in the 30th issue of the Patent Journal, 2019. Out of the 1136 applications published in the journal, 70 applications account for early publications while 1066 applications account for ordinary publications or publications occurring after the 18 – month period. A total of 434 applications have been granted last week as compared to 548 grants in the week preceding the last thereby marking a decrease of about 20.80%
EARLY PUBLICATIONS
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 3 | 23 | 666.66% increase |
| Mumbai | 94 | 28 | 70.21% decrease |
| Chennai | 44 | 14 | 68.18% decrease |
| Kolkata | 4 | 5 | 25% increase |
| Total | 145 | 70 | 51.72% decrease |
ORDINARY PUBLICATIONS
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 559 | 584 | 4.47% increase |
| Mumbai | 68 | 230 | 238.23% increase |
| Chennai | 229 | 228 | 0.43% decrease |
| Kolkata | 80 | 24 | 70% decrease |
| Total | 936 | 1066 | 13.88% decrease |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 1081
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 1136
Percentage difference: 5.08% increase
FIRST EXAMINATION REPORT (FER) STATISTICS
A total of 1413 FER’s have been issued last week. Applicants and their agents can check if any of their patent applications have been examined by referring to the journal available here.
| City | No. of FER Issued |
| Delhi | 449 |
| Mumbai | 307 |
| Chennai | 482 |
| Kolkata | 175 |
| Total | 1413 |
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 223 | 202 | 9.41% decrease |
| Mumbai | 78 | 43 | 44.87% decrease |
| Chennai | 156 | 125 | 19.87% decrease |
| Kolkata | 91 | 64 | 29.67% decrease |
| Total | 548 | 434 | 20.80% decrease |
NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS PUBLISHED BASED ON ‘APPLICANT CITY’
Of the total 1136 patent applications published in the journal last week, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata have contributed a total of 109 applications. The total applications from each of the previously mentioned cities are as follows – 49 applications from Delhi, 6 applications from Kolkata and 20 applications from Mumbai, 20 applications from Bangalore, 6 applications from Chennai and 9 applications from Hyderabad.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2019 to 26th July 2019 | 19th July 2019 – 26th July 2019 |
| Delhi | 732 | 49 |
| Mumbai | 424 | 20 |
| Bangalore | 670 | 19 |
| Chennai | 626 | 6 |
| Hyderabad | 260 | 9 |
| Kolkata | 163 | 6 |
PATENT STATISTICS SUMMARY (1ST JANUARY 2019 –TILL DATE)
| Total early publications | 2578 |
| Total ordinary publications | 22842 |
| Total applications published | 25420 |
| Total grants in Delhi | 4317 |
| Total grants in Mumbai | 1643 |
| Total grants in Chennai | 3745 |
| Total grants in Kolkata | 1913 |
| Total Grants | 11618 |
| Total applications examined | 45711 |
INDIAN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STATISTICS
The designs office has registered a total of 501 designs this week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2019 till date now adds to a total of 8778 applications.
- Total designs registered in the previous Week: 459
- Total designs registered this Week: 501
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2019 till date: 8778
INTERESTING INVENTIONS
RECHARGEABLE DEVICES AND KIOSKS FOR SAME
Applicant – RAYNER, Dignan
Patent Application No. – 201827047416 A
Abstract – “A system for enabling electrical devices to exchange either battery or battery fluids or reagents that supply the energy for the battery or device with new recharged batteries or battery fluids or reagents for use in equipment including vehicles excavating and earthmoving equipment tractors and agricultural equipment or aircraft smaller devices such as mobile phones telecommunication devices and portable computers. This system involves handling and billing systems to ensure this is all done and that satisfactory payment to the supplier parties is achieved. The system involves packaging reagents such as enzymes anodes gases etc. in sealed systems in order to ensure their integrity or having control over the delivery and retrieval and internal use systems to ensure the reagent is kept secure and uncontaminated.”(This abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors.)
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATION IN EMERGENCY CONDITION
Applicant – SULIBELE VASANTHA SASTRY NANJUNDA SASTRY
Patent Application No. – 201841002340 A
Abstract –“METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATION ABSTRACT The present disclosure relates to a method and a rescue operation system for facilitating search and rescue operation. The method comprises transmitting radio search signals within a predefined range for scanning one or more safety tag devices associated with users present at an emergency location. On successful scanning, a communication connection is created between a safety tag device of the one or more safety tag devices and an aerial device of a plurality of aerial devices. The method comprises providing command to aerial device after creation of the connection. On receiving the command, the aerial device follows safety tag device continuously based on real-time location information associated with safety tag device. Thereafter, communication connection between the aerial device and the safety tag device is monitored until completion of search and rescue operation. The aerial device provides visual indication and alert sound indicating arrival at location of safety tag device. Fig.1a”(This abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors.)
INDIAN PATENT NEWS
Highlights of the 12th Edition of the Global Innovation Index 2019
On July 24th, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), INSEAD along with Knowledge Partners of 2019 – Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and others, released the 12th edition of the Global Innovation Index 2019. Among the 129 economies considered under the study, Switzerland has maintained its position as the world’s most innovative country, consecutively, for nine years. On the other hand, Sweden, USA, the Netherlands and UK occupy the first four places, respectively. Among Asian countries, Singapore made its appearance among the top 10 for the first time in 2018 and this year, the country has occupied the 8th position. Another interesting observation is that Israel has entered the list of world’s top 10 innovative countries, for the very first time.
According to the Index, India has exceeded expectations with regard to the level of the development in the country. Further, India jumped five notches and has proudly occupied the 52nd position from the 57th position last year. The Secretary of DPIIT, Ramesh Abhishek said “India’s consistent improvement in ranking since 2015 is largely a result of our focus on improving innovation system in the country.” During the release of the Index, the Director of WIPO, Francis Gurry said “The GII shows us that countries that prioritize innovation in their policies have seen significant increases in their rankings. The rise in the GII by economic powerhouses like China and India have transformed the geography of innovation and this reflects deliberate policy action to promote innovation.” Click here to access the complete GII 2019.
Delhi High Court grants interim relief to Natco Pharma Ltd
The Delhi High Court set aside an injunction petition filed by Bristol – Myers Squibb (BMS) and granted an interim relief to Natco Pharma, allowing the company to continue selling the generic version of the anti-coagulant drug – “Apixaban.” The pharmaceutical giant, BMS was against the generic version and claimed to hold a patent for the drug until 2022. On 5th July, BMS actively asserted and filed its claims in respect of patent infringement at the High Court of Delhi and also managed to slap an injunction on Natco Pharma. Natco in turn filed an appeal against the ruling and was successful in getting the injunction lifted. A division bench comprising of two judges lifted the injunction on 16th July, 2019 and reverted the case to a single judge bench in order to issue a new verdict.
In addition to the aforementioned suit, according to an anonymous resource, Natco has also filed a suit in Hyderabad in respect of patents – IN 243917 and IN 247381 as it has been observed that numerous patents are currently offering protection to the same active ingredient.
INTERNATIONAL PATENT NEWS
Vodafone joins LTE patent pool of Via Licensing Corporation
Vodafone Group, one of the largest telecommunications corporation joined the patent pool for LTE – enabled wireless products through the global IP licensing platform, Via Licensing Corporation. Vodafone will license its standard essential patents in relation to 4G LTE. The patent pool will provide both manufactures and distributors a lucrative system of licensing with respective to LTE, LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro patents. Inventors will also be presented with a solid platform to ensure efficient returns on their investment. A spokesperson from the licensing major said, “The addition of Vodafone to Via’s patent pool demonstrates the continued momentum of our wireless licensing programs and the benefits our balanced solutions offer participants throughout the wireless ecosystem.”
KIPO observes filings of 16,991 PCT Applications, in 2018
According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the number of applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, in Korea has remarkably increased by 6.6 percent in the last five years. In 2014, KIPO received 13,138 PCT Applications in comparison to 16,991 applications, in 2018. While large Korean Companies have begun to pave the path in International filings, the number of domestic filings dropped by 6.4. An essential aspect to be noted is that a large number of corporations have begun to focus on showing their presence not only in the domestic patent system but also in the global market. This shift in focus has resulted in the reduction of domestic filings and increase in the number of applications filed overseas. %. According to statistics, Samsung Electronics filed over 9200 applications and LG Electronics filed around 8500 applications. Further, the electrical machinery sector observed on increase of 8.4% and the digital communications sector detected a rise of 11.4%, in the number of applications.
China launches the establishment of a National Centre that offers guidance on IP related disputes
China has recently established a National Centre with the objective of providing assistance to Chinese corporations and individuals in matters relating to overseas Intellectual property dispute and settlements. Zhoa Gang, the Deputy head of the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) said that the Centre will help in establishing a mechanism to deal with IP disputes in the country. The main tasks assigned to the Centre is – “to guide and serve Chinese enterprises in safeguarding their IP rights overseas; and to help them better understand and respect the IP systems and rules of overseas jurisdictions.” The Centre is also expected to offer hot line and other services through the internet.
Authored and compiled by Vibha Amarnath & Gaurav Mishra
About BIP’s Patent Attorneys
The patent news bulletin is brought to you by the patent division of BananaIP Counsels, a top patent and IP firm in India. Led by Senior Partners, Somashekar Ramakrishna, Nitin Nair and Vinita Radhakrishnan, BIP’s Patent Attorneys are among the leading patent practitioners in the country. They work with clients such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Samsung, HCL, Eureka Forbes, to name a few. The patent attorneys at BIP have strong technical and legal expertise in areas such as IT/Software, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Data Analytics, Electronics and Telecommunication, Mechanical, Automotive, Green Energy, Traditional Medicine and Bio/Pharma domains. The firm is a first choice for clients looking for support in patent filing, prosecution, management and strategy in India, and across the world.
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