“Indian patent statistics, Interesting inventions, Indian patent grants went up by 50% in 2017 – WIPO Report, Himachal based University files 105 patents in 2018, Court sets April 15, 2019 as showdown date between Apple and Qualcomm, Samsung and Tivo renew patent license agreement, Nokia and OPPO ink patent licensing agreement, Uniloc Corporation accuses Netflix of patent infringement, New patent rules will soon be implemented in Canada, Tough punishment for IP infringement in China and other Weekly Patent News updates” presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s leading Patent Firm.
Design Quote of the Week
“Design is an opportunity to continue telling the story, not just to sum everything up.” –Tate Linden, a leading creative strategist.
Indian Patent Statistics
A total of 639 patent applications have been published in the 49th issue of the patent journal. Out of the 639 applications, 122 applications account for early publications while 517 applications account for ordinary publications or publications occurring after the 18-month period. A total of 467 applications have been granted this week thereby marking an increase of 9.36% in total grants as compared to the preceding week.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 31 | 24 | 22.58% decrease |
| Mumbai | 28 | 48 | 71.42% increase |
| Chennai | 42 | 49 | 16.66% increase |
| Kolkata | 5 | 1 | 80% decrease |
| Total | 106 | 122 | 15.09% increase |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 392 | 251 | 35.96% decrease |
| Mumbai | 56 | 58 | 3.57% increase |
| Chennai | 178 | 189 | 6.17% increase |
| Kolkata | 28 | 19 | 32.14% decrease |
| Total | 654 | 517 | 20.94% decrease |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 760
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 639
Percentage difference: 15.92% decrease
First Examination Report (FER) Statistics
A total 3049 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 | 1093 |
| Mumbai | 397 |
| Chennai | 1008 |
| Kolkata | 551 |
| Total | 3049 |
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 163 | 157 | 3.68% decrease |
| Mumbai | 46 | 62 | 34.78% increase |
| Chennai | 153 | 145 | 5.22% decrease |
| Kolkata | 65 | 103 | 58.46% increase |
| Total | 427 | 467 | 9.36% increase |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Of the total 639 patent applications published in the journal last week,Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata have contributed a total of 102 applications. The total applications from each of the previously mentioned cities are as follows – 24 applications from Chennai, 22 applications from Bangalore, 20 applications from Delhi, 16 applications from Hyderabad, 11 applications from Mumbai and 9 applications from Kolkata.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2018 – 7th December 2018 | 30th November 2018 – 7th December 2018 |
| Delhi | 999 | 20 |
| Mumbai | 861 | 11 |
| Bangalore | 1108 | 22 |
| Chennai | 761 | 24 |
| Hyderabad | 486 | 16 |
| Kolkata | 256 | 9 |
Total number of applications published by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 36472
- Early publications: 3628
- Ordinary Publications: 33319
Total number of patents granted by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 12854
- Delhi – 4742
- Mumbai – 1610
- Chennai – 4135
- Kolkata – 2541
Indian Industrial Designs Statistics
The designs office has registered a total of 142 designs this week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date now adds to a total of 7750 applications.
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 132
Total designs registered this Week: 142
Percentage Difference: 7.57% increase
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 7750
Interesting Inventions of the Week
Invention 1 – MATERNITY/ABSORBENT PAD MADE WITH RAW WOOD PULP
Patent Application No.: 201711046523
Applicant: Baldev Raj Sharma
Abstract: “ABSORBENT MATERNITY PAD MADE WITH RAW WOOD PULP The present invention relates to an absorbent maternity pad comprising an absorbent pad having hammered raw natural wood pulp wrapped and then packed by different sizes of cotton net communicated perforated tissue paper disposed in wood pulp. Wood pulp was framed in machine and encapsulated in cotton net which are installing by an automated not weaving machine. Wood pulp including net and net perforated tissue paper are holding strengthly to maintain the appropriate strength &smoothness.” (The abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors)
Invention 2 – ONLINE SYSTEM FOR JUDICIARY WITH TIME SAVING TECHNOLOGY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR EXPEDITED JUDGMENT
Patent Application No.: 201821043743
Applicant: Sharedalal Hirenkumar Dhansukhlal
Abstract:“The present invention, online system for judiciary with time saving technology and artificial intelligence for expedited judgment, links court with Police department and lawyers through online technology which includes registration of new case, biometric authentication of all litigants and lawyers, marking presence through Kiosk, issuing hearing dates, sending reminder SMS etc. Provisions for photography of delivery of summons, submission of facts by litigants, in sealed envelope, clauses for penalty, gradation, appointment of junior judge are proposed. All proceedings of the court are executed through foolproof online system, 247, by posting drafts for reply in scheduled time and videoconferencing from offices of judges and lawyers linked online. Artificial intelligence compares present case with finalized cases, considering factors like penal codes, maintaining schedules, penalties and gradations. A.I. drafts,provisional judgment, which assists the judge in drafting the final judgment to expedite the judicial process at lower cost.” (The abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors)
Invention 3 – DIVYANGVANI – SMART VOICE FOR THE SPEECH DISABLED
Patent Application No.: 201741036390
Applicant: CVR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Abstract:“It is needless to emphasize the importance of technological solutions to obviate difficulties of the physically challenged people will go a long way of bringing them into mainstream and making them part of society. While some solutions exist for blind people, solutions of deaf and dumb have caught recent interest of researchers and one such developmental proposal is forwarded here. DIVYANGVANI, a system based on motion sensing is proposed. The system generates predefined voice commands made available in different dictionaries as per usage context or environment like hospitals, government offices, bus stations,railways stations etc. The user can use a dictionary for generating a conversation based on context. Dictionaries are continuously upgraded for each context. The system is a simple handheld unit which is powered by a battery chargeable from an AC power. The embedded logic could cater to 16 different kinds of positions/gestures to map the underneath pre-recorded voice commands and output the corresponding voice message as well as the text message on the LCD screen based on the detected gesture. The audible voice command is the perceived output by the end user -thereby aiding in.the interpretation of a specific position. Along with the audible voice command a visual display of interpreted gesture is included to verify and confirm the audio output. Scalable embedded logic is built in to generate different motion selections to activate voice commands which are mapped to motion. The audible commands of DIVYANGVANI are a means of communication of the dumb person with the rest of the world as per context. The device also includes a programmable interface for customization of voice based commands specific to purpose of usage.” (The abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors)
Indian Patent Updates
Indian patent grants went up by 50% in 2017 – WIPO Report
The World Intellectual Property Organization recently released the latest Intellectual Property statistical database for the year 2016-2017. According to the statistics the number of patents granted by India shot up by 50 per cent in 2017, keeping up a trend of steep increases. The report also reveals that about 45,057 patent applications were filed in the year 2016 whereas 46,582 applications were filed in the year 2017, in India. the increase in the number of patent applications indicates that India has shown a growth of about 3.4%,thereby making it to the top 10 Patent Offices in the world. Of the total 12,387 patents granted last year, 1,712 were granted to entities and individuals based in India, and 10,675 to foreigners, according to the WIPO report.
The Director General of WIPO, Francis Gurry, is of the opinion that “Demand for IP protection is rising faster than the rate of global economic growth,illustrating that IP-backed innovation is an increasingly critical component of competition and commercial activity.” The complete statistical report can be found here.
Himachal based University files 105 patents in 2018
A Himachal Pradesh-based university called Shoolini University has emerged as one of the top patent filers in the country in 2018. A leading daily has reported that the nine-year old private university, which is managed by a trust, has filed 105 patents this year and planning to file at least 10 more before the end of the year. The daily also added that based on the data available on central institutions with the Ministry of Human Resources, only three other institutions have filed over 100 patents so far this year. These are IIT Madras(132), IIT Bombay (104) and Indian Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru (101). IIT Delhi has managed to file 96 patents to date.
The Vice Chancellor of the University has remarked that most of the University’s patents relate to drug discovery, enzymes and peptides, disaster management and designing of agro-based tools particularly for application in hill farming and that the University has already generated a revenue of Rs 12 lakh from these patents.
Patent /Design Infringements, Disputes, Licensing and Settlements
Court sets April 15, 2019 as show down date between Apple and Qualcomm
The date for a show down between Apple and Qualcomm has now been set by the San Diego federal court for the 15th of April 2019. The two companie have already been battling each other for more than a year over LTE modem licensing fees and patents.
For the uninitiated with the Apple-Qualcomm saga, Qualcomm has accused Apple of sharing trade secrets with Intel to help them improve that company’s LTE modem performance. Qualcomm believes that Apple has violated the master software agreement that it signed. Qualcomm also argues that Apple owes over $7 billion USD in back royalty payments.
Samsung and Tivo renew patent license agreement
Global entertainment technology leader TiVo Corporation last week announced that Rovi Corporation, a TiVo company, has signed a new multi-year patent license agreement with Samsung for the use of Rovi’s video discovery patents and technologies across Samsung’s smartphone and tablet devices. The patent renewal encompasses Samsung mobile products sold on a worldwide basis.
Nokia and OPPO ink patent licensing agreement
Finnish telecom major has announced that it has entered into a patent licensing agreement with Chinese mobile consumer electronics firm OPPO. Although the terms of the agreement haven’t been disclosed by Nokia, the company has indicated that OPPO would make payments to Nokia over a multi-year period.
Uniloc Corporation accuses Netflix of patent infringement
Uniloc,an Australia based company has filed a suit against Netflix last week accusing the entertainment giant of infringing two of its patents, namely; Patent No.6,895,118 & 9,721,273. The suit filed in the US District Court of California, alleges that the “continue watching” feature on Netflix infringes its original model of gathering and combining information related to an individual user. Uniloc is suing Netflix for both damages and legal expenditure.
International Patent News
New patent rules will soon be implemented in Canada
The Government of Canada released the draft patent rules in the Canada Gazzette (Part I, Volume 152, Number 48), on 1st Dec, 2018. The new rules have been framed to ensure that Canadian patent laws and rules are consistent with that of other countries leading in Intellectual Property Rights like USA,UK and Australia. The modernization of rules is also to ensure that Canada can easily adopt and be compliant with various international treaties relating to IP, especially the Patent Law Treaty. The proposed rules can be found here.
The proposed rules are now open to the public for discussion, and will remain open until 31st December, 2018. The final draft will then be published in Part II of the Canada Gazette. The expected enforcement of these rules will be somewhere around mid 2019.
Tough punishment for IP infringement in China
Several Chinese government agencies have signed a memorandum of cooperation for joint efforts to strengthen punishment for intellectual property infringements. According to the memorandum posted on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC), violators will be put on a blacklist, which will be shared among the government agencies for enforcement and made public. These wrongdoers will find it harder to get financial support from the government, participate in government procurement, issue corporate bonds and acquire government land supply. The memorandum also adds that dishonest conduct from individuals or enterprises such as repeated patent infringements and falsification of documents during patent applications will be subject to joint punishment.
Compiled by Vibha Amarnath
About 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];
