Patent claims to be made public after 18 months

MUMBAI: In a major modification to the patent rules, the government has decided to make all applications for patents public 18 months after the date of filing. The Patents (Amendment) Act ‘02 has been made effective from May 20, ‘03.
From now onwards, all claims for patents will be open to the public, irrespective of the outcome of scrutiny. The new set of rules also states that the term of every patent which is in force, has now become 20 years from date of filing, and not from the date of issuing the patent. The existing system of keeping all claims secret till a patent is granted has been done away with, sources in the office of Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM) told ET.
“It takes a long time to get a patent in India, so every patent application will now be published after 18 months from the date of filing and will be open to public,� the sources said.
The government decided to adopt the new method to grant patents keeping international standards in mind. The new system has a provision which allows any interested person to file a request for examination of the patent application.
All the patent applications in which the first examination report has not been issued on or before May 19, ‘03 will be examined according to the new procedure. However, there is no change in patent claims related to sensitive areas like defence and atomic energy. Applications in these category will not be made public. The government has also increased the time for restoration of lapsed patents from 12 months to 18 months. “Now an application for restoration of a patent which ceased on or after May 20, ‘03 can be filed within 18 months from the date of cessation,� an official said.