“In this weeks patent news – Gilead wins over Merck, Apple suffers setback in Samsung ruling, Google Patent search not searchable, PCT/ISA/206, Unity of Invention, Patent Tip of the Week and other Weekly Patent News,” presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s leading Patent Firm.
Patent Quote of the Week
“There is a great divide in patent law these days. The dividing idea is use versus abuse” – Gaurav Mishra, Patent Associate, BananaIP Counsels.
Indian Patent Statistics
There has been a slight increase in the total number of patent applications published between the 10th of February 2018 and 16th of February 2018. A total of 709 patent applications have been published, of which, 85 applications account for early publications while 618 applications account for ordinary publications or publications occurring after the 18 month period. A total of 235 applications have been granted between this period which is 3.29% less than the total applications granted in the previous week.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 4 | 7 | 75% increase |
| Mumbai | 26 | 33 | 26.92% increase |
| Chennai | 18 | 39 | 116.67% increase |
| Kolkata | 13 | 6 | 53.85% decrease |
| Total | 61 | 85 | 39.34% increase |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 223 | 276 | 23.77% increase |
| Mumbai | 44 | 57 | 29.55% increase |
| Chennai | 259 | 189 | 27.03% decrease |
| Kolkata | 19 | 96 | 405.26% increase |
| Total | 545 | 618 | 13.39% increase |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 606
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 703
Percentage difference: 16.01% increase
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 89 | 67 | 24.72% decrease |
| Mumbai | 22 | 30 | 36.36% increase |
| Chennai | 67 | 85 | 26.87% increase |
| Kolkata | 65 | 53 | 18.46% decrease |
| Total | 243 | 235 | 3.29% decrease |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Of the total 703 patent applications published in the journal last week, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata have contributed a total of 142 applications. The total applications from each of the previously mentioned cities for the past week are as follows – 61 from Delhi, 24 from Mumbai, 24 from Bangalore, 19 from Chennai, 9 from Hyderabad and 5 from Kolkata.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2018 – 16th February 2018 | 10th February – 16th February 2018 |
| Delhi | 276 | 61 |
| Mumbai | 130 | 24 |
| Bangalore | 112 | 24 |
| Chennai | 80 | 19 |
| Hyderabad | 75 | 9 |
| Kolkata | 18 | 5 |
Total number of applications published by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 5386
- Early publications: 475
- Ordinary Publications: 4911
Total number of patents granted by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 1782
- Delhi – 699
- Mumbai – 239
- Chennai – 571
- Kolkata – 334
First Examination Report (FER) Statistics
A total of 1052 FER’s have been issued last week. Applicants and their agents can check if any of their patent applications have been examined by referring the journal available here.
| City | No. of FER Issued |
| Delhi | 363 |
| Mumbai | 154 |
| Chennai | 353 |
| Kolkata | 182 |
| Total | 1052 |
Indian Industrial Designs Statistics
The designs office has registered a total of 211 designs this week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date now adds to a total of 1481 applications.
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 210
Total designs registered this Week: 211
Percentage Difference: 0.48% increase
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 1481
Interesting Patents & Designs
The patent journal of 16th February 2018 is replete with interesting patent applications. A few of these interesting patent applications are listed below:
Patent Application 1: REUSABLE MENSTRUAL SANITARY PAD
Applicant: SC JAIN & SONS PVT. LTD.
Application No.: 201611022014
Abstract: “A reusable menstural sanitary pad comprising of an upper layer made of high absorbency fabric, the absorbent filler, in the side receiving the mensural discharge; a back cover or barrier layer formed by non absorbant material; optionally one or more middle layers for better absorbency and better cushioning; wherein the sanitary pad is made of azo-free material to prevent any reaction, itch or rash.” (The abstract has been taken from the patent specification as is and has not been corrected for errors.)
Patent Application 2: PRE AND POST ACCIDENT PREVENTING DEVICE
Applicant: PAWAR KUNAL KALYANRAO
Application No.: 201821003798
Abstract: “The invented the device is a pre-accident and post-accident preventing and supporting device which will be installed in the car and connected to the cloud server which can be accessed on a web browser or on mobile application. With this invention we are focusing on the human safety, and safe driving for the humans which help to save the others life and save himself. Device contains sensors like alcohol sensor, fingerprint sensor which will detect the person is drunk and is above 18 years respectively and then start the car. The invented device sends location and an emergency message to nearby hospitals, police stations and relatives if accident occurs. Also takes care that all documentation needed in hospital like admit form filling, medical insurance approval, will be automatically done by the device system if accident occurs. It also provides facility that any car with emergency patient gets a way to hospital from traffic quickly as possible by informing the other cars in that route.” (The abstract has been taken from the patent specification as is and has not been corrected for errors.)
Patent Infringement, Disputes, Settlements
One for Gilead, None for Merck
Gilead Sciences which was recently asked to pay $2.54 billion to Merck pharmaceuticals for infringing a patent relating to Merck’s blockbuster hepatitis C drugs has finally found relief after U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Stark ruled in favor of Gilead. Judge Stark ruled that Merck’s patent at issue was invalid as the invention did not meet the minimum requirement for enablement and did not disclose “how to make and use the treatment” without undue experimentation.
The verdict is said to be the largest ever in a U.S. patent case, stemming from a long-running dispute concerning the Sovaldi and Harvoni hepatitis C pills.
Apple suffers minor setback in dispute with Samsung
While Apple has been basking itself in back to back victories against Qualcomm, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh’s ruling in the matter of a dispute between Apple and Samsung is sure to leave Apple sour. Judge Lucy in her Thursday ruling, agreed with Samsung that the South Korea smartphone manufacturer owed Apple about $6.4 million, but not the ongoing royalties to which Apple claimed it was entitled to. Apple did not comment on the ruling and it remains to be seen whether Apple would appeal against the ruling considering that the two companies recently entered into a cross licensing agreement.
International Patent Update
Google makes Old ‘Google Patent’ search inaccessible
Google patents has been the go-to patent search portal for many inventors and applicants. In July 2015, Google had launched a new version of the Google Patent Search at patents.google.com. The old version at was however still accessible via google.com/patents. Having conducted searches on both the old and new google patent search pages, the old search page was far more accurate in terms of the results. There is something missing in the new version which has led people to abstain from using the new search portal. Many users want Google to restore access to the old version of google patent search.
BananaIP’s Patent / Design Tip of the Week
PCT/ISA/206 and Unity of Invention
A PCT/ISA/206 is usually issued by the International Searching Authority when the ISA believes that the international application does not meet the requirement of unity of invention. In such an instance the ISA invites the applicant to pay additional fees, specifying the reasons for its finding and indicating the number of additional fees to be paid. The applicant in such an instance has 3 ways to respond:
- Pay the search fee for all the additional inventions along with the protest fee.
- Pay the search fee for all the additional inventions without any protest.
- Do no pay any additional fees and let the ISA prepare a search report only for the claims that the ISA believes forms a single invention.
Author: BIP’s Patent Attorneys
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, and Titan. They specialize in IT/Software, Electronics/Telecom, Mechanical, Automotive, and Bio/Pharma domains, and help clients with patent filing, prosecution, management and strategy in India, and across the world.
The weekly patent news initiative is a part of their pro bono work, and is aimed at spreading patent awareness. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and backlink to the source.
If you have any questions, you may write to BIP’s Patent Attorneys – [email protected]
