“Sharp drop in patent publications, Mammoth increase in First Examination Reports issued by Indian Patent Office, Two week WIPO summer school in India, Bumble files counter lawsuit against Tinder, Huawei wins patent injunction against Samsung in China, Qualcomm does not want Apple to move the dispute to UK, UK IPO signs PPH agreement with Brazil, 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
“Taking care of a plant is a tough job, so is the case with patents” – Gaurav Mishra, Patent Associate, BananaIP Counsels
Indian Patent Statistics
In one of the sharpest drops of 2018, a total of 511 patent applications have been published in the 13th issue of the patent journal. Of the 511 applications, 36 applications account for early publications while 475 applications account for ordinary publications or publications occurring after the 18 month period. A total of 289 applications have been granted this week as opposed to 311 from the previous week, thus marking a decrease of about 7.07% in grants.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 3 | 4 | 33.33% increase |
| Mumbai | 27 | 14 | 48.15% decrease |
| Chennai | 18 | 15 | 16.67% decrease |
| Kolkata | 10 | 3 | 70% decrease |
| Total | 58 | 36 | 37.93% decrease |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 317 | 137 | 56.78% decrease |
| Mumbai | 37 | 37 | No change |
| Chennai | 245 | 194 | 20.82% decrease |
| Kolkata | 13 | 107 | 723.08% increase |
| Total | 612 | 475 | 22.39% decrease |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 670
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 511
Percentage difference: 23.73% decrease
First Examination Report (FER) Statistics
A staggering 2325 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 | 717 |
| Mumbai | 398 |
| Chennai | 812 |
| Kolkata | 398 |
| Total | 2325 |
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 140 | 112 | 20% decrease |
| Mumbai | 32 | 28 | 12.5% decrease |
| Chennai | 70 | 85 | 21.43% increase |
| Kolkata | 69 | 64 | 7.25% decrease |
| Total | 311 | 289 | 7.07% decrease |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Of the total 511 patent applications published in the journal last week, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata have contributed a total of 91 applications. The total applications from each of the previously mentioned cities for the past week are as follows – 29 from Delhi, 18 from Bangalore, 14 from Chennai, 12 from Hyderabad, 10 from Kolkata and 8 from Mumbai.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2018 – 30th March 2018 | 24th March 2018 – 30th March 2018 |
| Delhi | 375 | 29 |
| Mumbai | 226 | 8 |
| Bangalore | 194 | 18 |
| Chennai | 139 | 14 |
| Hyderabad | 125 | 12 |
| Kolkata | 44 | 10 |
Total number of applications published by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 9061
- Early publications: 838
- Ordinary Publications: 8223
Total number of patents granted by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 3889
- Delhi – 1475
- Mumbai – 499
- Chennai – 1184
- Kolkata – 731
Indian Industrial Designs Statistics
The designs office has registered a total of 232 designs this week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date now adds to a total of 2734 applications.
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 204
Total designs registered this Week: 232
Percentage Difference: 13.73% increase
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 2734
Indian Patent Office updates
Two Week WIPO-INDIA Summer School on Intellectual Property (IP)
WIPO Academy, the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of IP Management, Nagpur (RGNIIPM) and the Maharashtra National Law University Nagpur (MNLUN), are jointly hosting a two week long WIPO-INDIA Summer School in Nagpur from the 2nd of July to 13th July 2018. The program will consist of lectures, case studies, simulation exercises and group discussions on selected IP topics, with an orientation towards the interface between IP and other disciplines. A certificate of participation will also be awarded to participants who successfully complete the program requirements. For further information regarding the program and registration, click here.
Patent Infringements, Disputes, Licensing and Settlements
Bumble files counter lawsuit against Tinder
Bumble has now filed a counter lawsuit against Tinder’s parent company Match Group in response to the patent infringement lawsuit filed by the latter against Bumble. Bumble in its lawsuit has said that it has “suffered special damages, as the disparagement by Match has chilled the market for an investment in Bumble.” Bumble has further listed several causes of action against Tinder such as Tortious interference with prospective business relations, Fraud, Unfair competition, Promissory estoppel and Business and commercial disparagement.
Huawei wins patent injunction against Samsung in China
A Chinese Court in a 350-page long judgment upheld an injunction against Samsung sought by Huawei in a SEP (Standard Essential Patent) patent infringement dispute with the Korean company. The court in its decision observed that Samsung hadn’t behaved “reasonably when Huawei asked for a royalty, and weighed up the strength of other evidence.” While Samsung hasn’t yet made its future course of actions clear, it is quite certain that the Korean company will have to abide by the Courts decision until a decision is made.
Qualcomm does not want Apple to move the dispute to UK
After the Apple – Qualcomm battle spilled into a U.K. court last week, Qualcomm has said that their legal fight should stay firmly across the Atlantic. Qualcomm asked Judge Paul Morgan to to declare that the British court has no right to determine whether it breached competition laws because the matter will effectively be settled in California, where Apple has been battling the chipmaker since May 2017. Apple on the other hand has said that England is the proper place for its complaint, as the tech giant is seeking to recover alleged losses across the European Union.
International Patent Updates
UK IPO signs PPH agreement with Brazil
The UK Intellectual Property Office has signed a patent prosecution highway (PPH) agreement with the Brazilian National Institution of IP. PPH agreements allow patents offices to request fast-track examination in the partner country after a patent application has been granted in the home country. Brazil has in fact entered into a range of PPH agreements with various IP offices in recent months, including Japan, Europe and the US.
BananaIP’s Patent / Design Tip of the Week
Intellectual Property App by the Indian Patent Office
The Intellectual Property App hosted by the Indian Patent Office is certainly a great app to keep track of the latest patent and other IP updates from the Indian Patent Office. Applicants can also use this app to monitor the status of their patent applications. The app is available for free download on the Google play store and is certainly a must have for any IP professional.
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].
