“Robo Safety Patents, Green Patents, Pencil Patents, Umbrella Patents, Decrease in patent pendency, Teva V. Eli Lilly, Nuance V. M-Modal, Apple’s 506 million dollar appeal, Regional Patents, Patent tip of the week and more weekly news updates,” presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s leading Patent Firm.
Patent Quote of the Week
“A Patent is not a license to make money, it is a license to prevent others from making money.” – Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala, Renowned IP Attorney, Professor and Author.
Indian Patent Statistics
There has been a drop in the total number of patent applications that have been published this week by the Indian Patent Office. A total of 663 patent applications have been published this week as opposed to 710 applications last week. Of the 663 applications, 36 applications account for early publications while 627 applications are ordinary publications or publications occurring after the 18 month period. Grants have however increased this week by about 28.65%.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 23 | 9 | 60.87% decrease |
| Mumbai | 1 | 0 | 100% decrease |
| Chennai | 20 | 24 | 20% increase |
| Kolkata | 3 | 3 | No change |
| Total | 47 | 36 | 23.4% decrease |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 119 | 221 | 85.71% increase |
| Mumbai | 190 | 86 | 54.74% decrease |
| Chennai | 222 | 275 | 23.87% increase |
| Kolkata | 132 | 45 | 65.91% decrease |
| Total | 663 | 627 | 5.43% decrease |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 710
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 663
Percentage difference: 6.62% decrease
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 83 | 101 | 21.69% increase |
| Mumbai | 9 | 16 | 77.78% increase |
| Chennai | 62 | 83 | 33.87% increase |
| Kolkata | 38 | 47 | 23.68% increase |
| Total | 192 | 247 | 28.65% increase |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Of the total 663 patent applications published this week, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad have contributed 109 applications in total. The total applications for each of the previously mentioned cities are as follows – 41 from Mumbai, 21 from Bangalore, 21 from Delhi, 11from Chennai, 11 from Hyderabad and 4 from Kolkata.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2017 – till date | 21st October 2017 to 27th October 2017 |
| Mumbai | 1213 | 41 |
| Bangalore | 1038 | 21 |
| Delhi | 673 | 21 |
| Chennai | 680 | 11 |
| Hyderabad | 356 | 11 |
| Kolkata | 249 | 4 |
Total number of applications published by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2017 till 20th October 2017: 26862
- Early publications: 2458
- Ordinary Publications: 24404
Total number of patents granted by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2017 till 20th October 2017: 10526
- Delhi – 4337
- Mumbai – 1109
- Chennai – 3167
- Kolkata – 1913
First Examination Report (FER) Statistics
A total of 858 FER’s have been issued this 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 | 316 |
| Mumbai | 153 |
| Chennai | 269 |
| Kolkata | 120 |
| Total | 858 |
Indian Industrial Designs Statistics
The designs office at Kolkata has registered a total of 226 designs this week; a minor decrease of about 1.74% in comparison to the total number of designs registered in the previous week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2017 till date now adds to 7889 applications.
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 230
Total designs registered this Week: 226
Percentage Difference: 1.74% decrease
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2017 till date: 7889
Interesting Patents
Robo Driver, Green Patent for Green Pencil and Umbrella Patents.
Several interesting patents and industrial designs have been published in the Official Journal of patents and designs dated September 15th, 2017. From fire extinguishing cubes, mosquito controller street lights to wearable AC’s, this week’s Journal is undoubtedly replete with some seriously amazing inventions!
Patent Application 1: Promising safer train journeys
Title: REAL TIME TRAIN SAFETY THROUGH ROBOTS
Application No. 201611044288
Applicants: AIKANSH JAIN
Abstract: “Real time train security is achieved by a pair of robot and a module installed in the train. Robots communicate with the module in the train using radio waves continuously. Sensors installed in the device are used to detect the cracks in the tracks and to detect any incoming train on the same track. This information is send to the corresponding train along with location of the fault. Robots are placed at a fixed distance from the corresponding train.” (Abstract has been taken from the patent application as is and has not been corrected.)
Patent Application 2: Green pencils for green thumbs
Title: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN ECO-FRIENDLY PAPER PENCIL WHICH CAN BE GROWN INTO A TREE OR PLANT
Application No. 201621013799
Applicants: KRUNAL DIVYANGBHAI PATEL
Abstract: “This invention consists of a design of a pencil which is made with a purpose of ecological and economic benefit of the user and environment. This pencils body is replaced with recycled paper which are made from waste and unused newspapers or other kind instead of wood which reduces the cutting of trees for the manufacturing of pencils and secondly the design has been modified in a format that at the rear end of the pencil an enclosed compartment is made which stores seeds of varied kind. This will be proven beneficial when the pencil is reduced to a size which cannot be used for writing, the pencil can be planted into the soil and by supplying water the seeds will break through the paper compartment and the fertilizer will help the seed grow into a plant and as multiple seeds are placed in the enclosure the seed that suits the region and atmosphere can shoot into a plant or tree depending on the seed.” (Abstract has been taken from the patent application as is and has not been corrected.)
Patent Application 3: Now that’s the umbrella of our dreams!
Title: SMART AC UMBRELLA SYSTEM
Application No. 201641014306
Applicants: K SARAVANAN
Abstract: “An object of the present invention is to provide a smart AC umbrella system. The detailed drawings will allow us to understand the working of the smart AC umbrella system. The present embodiment consists of an umbrella; AC; USB charger port; solar panels; Light; Radio; BP display/announcing; weather forecast; Camera; Wi-Fi; touch screen with communication device; battery with charging unit and other accessories.” (Abstract has been taken from the patent application as is and has not been corrected.)
Government Updates
Patent Pendency to be brought down to 18 months – Suresh Prabhu
Union Minister Suresh Prabhu was recently quoted as saying that it was “extremely important” to protect India’s intellectual property rights (IPRs) as the country now stands at the forefront of innovation. The DIPP Ministry which is now handled by Mr. Prabhu in its official statement further added that “The examination of patent applications has increased over three times in the last six months compared to the same period last year.” and “To reduce the pendency, 458 patent and 59 trademark examiners have been appointed in addition to the existing manpower. Pendency in Patent examination is targeted to be brought down from the present 7 years to 18 months by 2019.”
Patent disputes, infringement and settlements
Teva sues Eli Lilly for patent infringement
Pharma giants Teva and Eli Lilly have locked horns over the marketing of a migraine medication being manufactured and sold by Eli Lilly. Teva has alleged that Eli Lilly’s drug for migraine treatment, galcanezumab infringes on five of Teva’s patents and that it hopes to win damages and an injunction that will stop Lilly from manufacturing or selling galcanezumab in the US.
Nuance files patent infringement suit against M-Modal
Nuance Communications, the famous Medical Transcription services based company has announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the U.S. Federal District Court of Delaware against its arch rival – M-Modal (another famous Medical Transcription services based company). The lawsuit alleges that M-Modal products violate six Nuance patents related to speech recognition, computer-assisted physician documentation and transcription technology applied in the healthcare IT market.
Apple asks appeals court to reverse judgment – says decision ‘fraught with error’
Apple has requested that an appeals court reverse or reduce a judgment ordering the company to pay $506 million for infringing on a patent held by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s technology transfer office. Back in 2015, Apple was found to have infringed a chip efficiency patent belonging to the University and was asked to pay damages amount close to 862 million dollars, however, the damages were reduced to $234 million when it was ruled that Apple had not intentionally infringed the patent.
Later however, the damages were increased to 506 million dollars because the company continued to infringe the patent after the verdict.
BananaIP’s Patent Tip of the Week
Understanding Regional Patents
A regional patent application is one which may have effect in a range of countries. Filing and prosecuting an application at a regional granting office is advantageous as it allows patents in a number of countries to be obtained without having to prosecute applications in all of those countries. The cost and complexity of obtaining protection is therefore reduced. Currently, regional patent applications may be filed in the following regions:
- African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI);
- African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO);
- Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO);
- European Patent Organisation (EPO); and
- Patent Office of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC Patent office)
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].
