“Lightning fast Indian Patent Office, startup files patent for 99% water purity, patents for putting baby to sleep, electric tooth brush patents, HP gets awarded stupid patent, BananaIP’s patent application published in record time, Kim Kardashian patent infringement suit, Motorola sues Hytera in Australia, Patent Tip of the Week and more weekly news updates,” presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s Premier New Age Patent Firm.
Patent Quote of the Week
“Patents must promote progress; not demote it” – Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala, Renowned IP Attorney, Professor and Novelist, BananaIP (BIP) Counsels.
Indian Patent Statistics
A total of 673 patent applications have been published this week. While 78 of these patent applications are early publications, the remaining 595 applications are ordinary publications. Both publications and grants have shown a good increase in the figures since last week. While the total publications have increased by 9.61%, grants have increased by a good 24.82%
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 0 | 23 | 100% increase |
| Mumbai | 17 | 14 | 17.65% decrease |
| Chennai | 18 | 39 | 116.67% increase |
| Kolkata | 0 | 2 | 100% increase |
| Total | 35 | 78 | 122.86% increase |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 184 | 279 | 51.63% increase |
| Mumbai | 99 | 151 | 52.53% increase |
| Chennai | 286 | 154 | 46.15% decrease |
| Kolkata | 10 | 11 | 10% increase |
| Total | 579 | 595 | 2.76% increase |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 614
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 673
Percentage difference: 9.61% increase
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 137 | 129 | 5.84% decrease |
| Mumbai | 24 | 37 | 54.17% increase |
| Chennai | 84 | 114 | 35.71% increase |
| Kolkata | 37 | 72 | 94.59% increase |
| Total | 282 | 352 | 24.82% increase |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Of the total 673 patent applications published this week, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad have contributed 75 applications in total. While Chennai and Bangalore have contributed the maximum number of applications this week, Kolkata’s contribution remains nil. The total applications from each of the previously mentioned cities are as follows – 20 applications from Chennai, 20 applications from Bangalore, 18 applications from Delhi, 9 from Mumbai and 6 applications from Hyderabad
| List of Cities | 1st January 2017 – till date | 29th July 2017 – 4th August 2017 |
| Mumbai | 874 | 9 |
| Bangalore | 707 | 20 |
| Delhi | 546 | 18 |
| Chennai | 395 | 20 |
| Hyderabad | 246 | 6 |
| Kolkata | 95 | 0 |
Total number of applications published by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2017 till 4th August 2017:16015
- Early publications: 1602
- Ordinary Publications:14413
Total number of patents granted by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2017 till 4th August 2017: 7046
- Delhi – 3113
- Mumbai – 662
- Kolkata – 1306
- Chennai –1965
Indian Industrial Designs Statistics
The designs office at Kolkata has registered a total of 180 designs this week. This translates to a 7.14% increase from the total designs registered in the previous week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2017 till date now adds up to 5466 applications.
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 168
Total designs registered this Week: 180
Percentage Difference: 7.14% increase
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2017 till date: 5466
Patents, Startups, Innovations
A device that guarantees 99% water purity
Taraltec Solutions, a Mumbai based startup has gained attention recently after the startup was chosen by the Indian government think tank – Niti Aayog to represent the country at an India-Israel tech innovation exhibition on water, health and agriculture. Founded by Anjan Mukherjee, an innovator and entrepreneur from Mumbai, the startup’s product captured the undivided attention of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu at the tech exhibition held in Israel last month.
A patent has already been applied for the product called “The Taraltec™ Reactor” with the Indian Patent Office. The Taraltec™ Reactor harnesses fluid dynamics and kills microbes in water from bore well hand-pump & motorized water lines – eliminating water borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera & typhoid. The biomimicry-based technology that the product operates on allows the tiny reactor to kill 99% of the microbes in water (as per NABL-approved lab tests). Priced at less than Rs 6,000, the reactor weighs about a kilo and runs without power taking only 15 minutes to install.
The startup has also won a Rs 25-lakh cheque from India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 – a contest run by Department of Science and Technology, Lockheed Martin and Tata Trusts.
Interesting Patents and Designs
Two interesting patent applications form part of the Official Journal of patents published by the Indian Patent Office on the 4th of August 2017. While the first application discloses an electric toothbrush, the second application discloses an automatic cradle for putting newborns to sleep.
Patent Application 1:
Title: ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH
Application No. 201747026687
Applicants: COLGATE PALMOLIVE COMPANY and OMRON HEALTHCARE CO. LTD.
Abstract: “An electric toothbrush includes a stem member on which a replaceable toothbrush is mounted. The stem member is made of synthetic resin and has a cavity for accommodating a DC motor and a vibration shaft connected to the DC motor. One end of the cavity is opened for inserting the DC motor and the vibration shaft together and the other end thereof is closed. A free end of the vibration shaft is rotatably supported at the closed end of the cavity. The cavity has a cone shaped wall so that the DC motor is firmly held in the cavity by a rigid contact between a shoulder portion of the DC motor and the cone shaped wall.” (Abstract has been taken from the patent application as is and has not been corrected.)
Patent Application 2:
Title: AUTOMATIC BABY SLEEPING CRADLE.
Application No. 201721022770 A
Applicants: AMRUTA MOHAN CHORE, NISHIKANT DHANDE, SANDHYA RAKESH SHINDE, PRAJAKTA DEVENDRA JADHAV, MADHAV THIGALE
Abstract: “The present subject matter discloses automatic cradle for newborn. The movements of baby like eye blinking, baby crying sound are captured by using camera and sound system. Arduino/Rasberry Pi uses Image processing algorithm to provide input to motor and sound system. The system detects alert conditions related to the baby crying and initiate alarm to inform parents. Based on baby crying, intensity of sound system change.” (Abstract has been taken from the patent application as is and has not been corrected.)
Patent Grants
HP Patents reminder messages
The American IT multinational, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has been recently granted a patent by the USPTO for an invention titled “Reminder Messages”. The patent no. 9,715,680 is being called a stupid patent as the issue of the patent now grants HP the monopoly for issuing automated reminder messages on a computer. Furthermore, while it is well known that an abstract idea does not become patent eligible by being implemented on a generic computer, the instant patent application appears to disclose a reminder message sent using a generic computer, and this is precisely why company rivals and tech expert are calling out the patent as being one of the most stupid patents granted in recent times by the USPTO.
The independent claim 1 of the invention reads as follows:
“A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to:
receive at a first computer system, via a network, event data descriptive of an event to occur at an event time;
receive via the network, reminder data descriptive of a reminder time to occur on or before the event time;
at a time after receipt of the event data, receive via the network article data descriptive of an article to be associated with the event, the article data created during an electronic scanning operation; and
at the reminder time send via the network a reminder message describing the event and the article to a second computer system, for presentation at the second computer system”.
Patent disputes, infringement and settlements
Kim Kardashian faces $100 million patent infringement lawsuit
Reality TV star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian’s company – Kimsaprincesss Inc, has been slapped with a $100 million patent infringement lawsuit by a US based company called ‘Snaplight’.
Snaplight in its lawsuit has alleged that Kimsaprincesss Inc’s promotion and use of an illuminated phone case infringes the company’s patent on an invention titled “integrated lighting accessory and case for a mobile phone device”. Snaplight has also alleged that it has been “extremely difficult” for the company to compete in the selfie case market with the reality star promoting the brand LuMee to her 165 million social media followers
Motorola Solutions pulls Hytera to Australian Court
After filing multiple patent infringement cases against Hytera Communications in the US and Germany, Motorola Solutions has filed a fresh case against the Chinese radio transceivers and radio systems manufacturing firm in an Australian Court. In its appeal, the US based telecom solutions maker has requested the court to restrain Hytera from continued infringement of Motorola’s Australian patents, AU2005275355, AU2006276960 and AU2009298764
BananaIP Patent Updates
BananaIP’s (BIP) patent application published
BananaIP’s (BIP’s) patent application numbered 201641003901 titled “Methods and systems for providing updates related to IP” has been recently published in the Official Journal of Patents by the Indian Patent Office. The invention developed by the inventors Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala, Nitin Nair and Somashekar Ramakrishna discloses a method and system which enables a person to obtain updates related to Intellectual Property (IP) including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and designs.
The said inventors have earlier filed a patent with respect to entertainment rights, royalties and license management system in India and the US.
BananaIP’s Patent Tip of the Week
Speedy patent grant through expedited examination
With the patent office processing patent applications at record breaking speeds, startups and applicants choosing India as ISA or IPEA in their PCT applications may now consider the expedited examination option for a speedy grant. The shortest recorded time for a patent granted through this route by the Indian Patent Office stands at 4 months as of date.
Author: BIP 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]
