Drone delivery, IBM patents, Training courses, Qualcomm and Smartron Patent Licensing Agreement, Google’s PatentShield program, Patent tip of the week and more, presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s Premier New Age IP Firm.
Quote of the week
Patents are like fertilizer. Applied wisely and sparingly, they can increase growth. But if you apply too many chemicals, or make patents too strong, then you can leach the land, making growth more difficult. – Alex Tabarrok
Patent stats from the Indian Patent Office
This week, there has been a great dip in the number of applications accepted for early publication. Only 30 applications have been published, which translates to a 57.14% decrease from the previous week’s figures. The number of publications and grants have however witnessed an upward trend, albeit modest ones. This week there have been 1183 publications in total and 204 grants.
Early Publications
| City | This Week | Previous Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 10 | 0 | — |
| Mumbai | 1 | 18 | 94.44% decrease |
| Chennai | 19 | 32 | 40.62% decrease |
| Kolkata | — | 20 | — |
| Total | 30 | 70 | 57.14% decrease |
Ordinary Publications
| City | This Week | Previous Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 255 | 253 | 0.79% increase |
| Mumbai | 230 | 173 | 32.94% increase |
| Chennai | 536 | 365 | 46.84% increase |
| Kolkata | 132 | 184 | 28.26% decrease |
| Total | 1153 | 975 | 18.25% increase |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 1183
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 1045
Percentage difference: 13.2 % increase
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 83 | 81 | 2.46% increase |
| Mumbai | 20 | 23 | 13.04% decrease |
| Chennai | 68 | 55 | 23.63% increase |
| Kolkata | 33 | 41 | 19.51% decrease |
| Total | 204 | 200 | 2% increase |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Mumbai has contributed 109 applications this week which brings its total to 706 applications since the 1st of January this year. Bangalore retains the second position with a total of 390 applications being made thus far and contributing 31 applications this week alone. Delhi is on the third position in respect of the total publications since the start of this year but has positioned itself on the fourth spot this week by contributing 18 applications against 28 applications from Chennai.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2017 – till date | 22nd April 2017 – 28th April 2017 |
| Mumbai | 706 | 109 |
| Bangalore | 390 | 31 |
| Chennai | 225 | 28 |
| Delhi | 339 | 18 |
| Hyderabad | 134 | 4 |
| Kolkata | 72 | — |
DESIGNS
Total designs registered this Week: 199
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 208
Percentage Difference: 4.32% decrease
Recent patent grants
IBM granted patent for drone delivery
The American multinational technology company International Business Machines (IBM) has been recently granted a patent by the USPTO for drone delivery. The invention with US Patent no. 9561852 titled “In flight transfer of packages between aerial drones” discloses a system and method for transferring packages between autonomous drones or unmanned aerial vehicles during flight. The design includes relay drones equipped with extension arms, which would connect and lock in mid-flight making it possible to hand off packages from one drone to another.
Facebook granted a patent by the Indian Patent Office
The Indian Patent office recently granted a patent to the world’s most popular social website, Facebook, for an invention relating to a method for providing a third party, the access to user-profile data maintained by the social network website. A third party application is configured to access the stored information about a user, and construct content pages based on the information specific to the user. The aforementioned patent has been granted by the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs, Subhra Banerjee.
Patent Office updates
Fee payment mode revised for International applications filed under PCT
In a notification dated 26th April 2017, the office of the CGPDTM reported that the applicants filing International Applications under PCT at the Indian Patent Office as Receiving Office (RO) and /or selecting Indian Patent Office as International Searching Authority (ISA) and /or Examining Authority (IPEA) should remit the payment of the fees by online transfer to the account of the “Controller of Patents” maintained at Central Bank of India by mentioning the International application number. Further, a copy of the corresponding CBR should be submitted with the patent office as soon as the payment is made but not later than 5 working days. With effect from May 1st, 2017 the patent office will discontinue to receive or accept the payments made by demand drafts.
Revised Circular: Applications invited by JPO for training courses
The training program conducted by The Japan Institute for Promoting Invention and Innovation (JIPII), and The Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association (HIDA) has been revised.
The following training programs are now being organized by the Japanese Patent Office:
- JPO/IPR Training Course for Practitioners specializing in Patents: August 22 – September 7, 2017
- JPO/IPR Training Course for Practitioners specializing in Trade Marks: December 4 -15, 2017
Government News and Updates
Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking at the World Intellectual Property Day celebrations organised by CII, pointed out that the government is planning to reduce the patent examination time to 18 months by March 2018. Similar claims have been made earlier by several government offices and officers. The patent office has certainly started disposing application at an unprecedented rate. If the 18 month time limit is strictly adhered to, the same will surely reduce the time required for grant of patents to about two to two and-a-half years under the ordinary route from five-seven years required at present.
International Patent News
USTR retains India on the list of patent violating countries
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has continued to retain India on its list of patent violating countries, citing it as one of the world’s most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP). Along with India, 10 other countries including China, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina, Algeria, Ukraine, Kuwait, Venezuela, Chile have been placed on the Priority Watch List.
Experts from within the field have criticized the report time and again, and have continuously junked the report as a report that only highlights the self-serving interests of the American Pharma.
Exclusive Patent License to be granted by the US Govt. to develop a vaccine for Zika Virus
The United States Department of Defense has announced that it intends to grant Sanofi Pasteur, a French pharmaceutical corporation, exclusive rights to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus. This decision has gathered a huge criticism from various sections of the society and has caused worry among people over the affordability and accessibility of the developed drug.
Patent Licensing
Qualcomm and Smartron sign 3G & 4G Patent Licensing Agreement
Qualcomm, the chip making giant and a leading patent holder of advanced 3G & 4G mobile technologies has recently entered into a patent license agreement with Smartron India Private Limited. Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm will license its 3G & 4G technology to Smartron which will permit the smartphone manufacturer to develop, manufacture and sell WCDMA, CDMA2000, and 4G LTE complete devices. Through this agreement, Smartron will now add itself to a growing list of key Indian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) who have direct access to Qualcomm’s technologies.
Startups and Patents
Google’s PatentShield program to defend startups against litigations
Search giant Google has partnered with Intertrust, a publicly traded international trust and corporate management company to announce a new program called PatentShield. The program aims to help startups from unnecessary patent litigation in return for some equity. The new program will provide startups with access to patent portfolios of contributing companies like Google, giving them a means of defending themselves against potential patent litigation from established players in their fields.
Plant Varieties
Nicobari Tribe awarded for different varieties of yam
The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority has presented the “Plant Genome Saviour Community” award to the Nicobari Tribes. The Nicobari Tribes specialize in cultivating, conserving and distributing seven different types of greater yam. The different varieties are differentiated by the tribe based on the tuber shape, flesh colour, colour of the leaves and aroma of the tube. Each variety has a specific use to it.
BananaIP’s Patent Tip of the week
Claims are the heart of an invention. They define the metes and bounds of an invention and must therefore be worded in a clear manner which clearly defines the scope of protection that is being sought. It is important to remember that what is not claimed in the claims is considered disclaimed.
