Abstract
India’s intellectual property law is based on The Patents Act, 1970, and significantly contributes to facilitating innovation whilst protecting the public interest. This article considers how The Patents Act, 1970 deals with the various types of patents, legal categorisation, and contemporary standards of patentability with respect to its amendments and new guidelines. It also states how Indian Patent Law aligns itself with international standards for patents. Special focus is given to CRI Guidelines (computer-related inventions) as well as statutory mechanisms balancing inventors’ rights with society’s interests.
Introduction
The Patents Act, 1970 was enacted to replace the previous Patents and Designs Act, 1911, in order to promote local innovation and technology development in India. The act, as already mentioned, provides criteria for the grant of patents, based on novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability; however, it seeks to counterbalance the rights of inventors with the interest of the public concern. The Patents Act is implemented by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), which has its offices in the major cities of India.
The Act has been amended several times – 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2006 – to bring India in line with international standards of intellectual property, such as TRIPS and various product patents, compulsory licenses, and stronger enforcement; improvements for access to medicines and economic growth, and providing innovation in technology in India, have all been aided by these revisions to the patent law.
Historical Evolution and Structure
The history of patent law in India began with Act VI of 1856, which was based on British law. Later, the Indian Patents and Designs Act, 1911 established a proper legal and administration system for patents. However, a significant change occurred with the Patents Act, 1970. The Act also brought in the concept of process patents and stricter disclosure requirements. These developments promote innovation, while also making sure that generic medicines are affordable to the public.
In recent years, patent law has changed even more. The emphasis now is on promoting domestic industry and ensuring that important technologies are available to a larger segment of the population instead of focusing only on protection for foreign invented or manufactured products or processes.
Types and Classification of Patents
Statutory Patent Categories
Under Indian law, patents are classified based on (i) priority claim, (ii) content of disclosure and (iii) unity of invention:
Priority Claim
Patents in India are classified into three categories based on whether or not they claim priority from an earlier application:
- Ordinary Patent Application: An application in which priority is not claimed from any other application, either in India or in any foreign country. For inventions that were first made and first filed in India.
- Conventional Application: An application which is dealing with priority to an earlier application and is filed in a convention country. This in turn enables the applicant to rely on the foreign priority date, something which can be advantageous for the applicant in terms of international conventions.
- PCT National Phase Application: An application which claims priority from an international application for patent filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). In this case, the application has entered India’s patent system while maintaining the date of the original international filing and priority rights.
Content of Disclosure
- Provisional Specification: An initial technical disclosure that secures an earlier filing date but contains no claims. It must be followed by a complete specification within 12 months.
- Complete Specification: A full disclosure with claims, technical description, drawings, and an abstract. Necessary for conventional and PCT applications and defines the scope of protection being sought.
Unity of Invention
- Each patent application must relate to a single invention or a group of inventions linked by a single inventive concept. If multiple inventions have been disclosed, then the applicant will have to file Divisional Applications covering a particular invention – each with the benefit of the original priority date – in order to ensure clarity of claims as well as to facilitate examination and enforcement.
Types of Patents Recognized
- Product Patents: These protect new products and were available since the amendment in 2005 to include pharmaceuticals and technology.
- Process Patents: Originally, only processes were patentable (especially for drugs/food). The law now covers both, enabling greater industrial innovation.
- Design and Utility Patents: Industrial designs have a separate governing law, while utility patents (petty patents) protect small mechanical inventions.
- Biotech and Plant Variety Patents: Inventions in biotechnology are covered with a bioethical safeguard, while plant varieties (the seeds plants produce) are under the Plant Variety Protection and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 (Indians not under the Patents Act).
- Software Patents: Software as such is specifically excluded under Section 3(k), but is patentable when included with hardware (or an improvement, as evidence in the CRI Guidelines).
Patent Term and Scope
Patents give rights for 20 years from the application date, provided renewal fees are paid, at which time the invention will enter the public domain. Protection is granted across the country, enforced in accordance with the forms stated, one invention per patent as stated in Section 46.
Patentability Criteria under Indian Law
Essential Conditions:
Indian patent law lays out a test for patentability with three criteria:
- Novelty: The invention must be new, i.e., it has not been disclosed, nor used anywhere in the world (Sections 2(1)(j)).
- Inventive Step: The invention must show some technical advancement or improvement, or must have some economic significance when compared to what already exists in the related field; and it must not be obvious to a person who is skilled in the field. (Section 2(1)(ja)).
- Industrial Applicability: The invention must have some kind of use in that specific industry, as in it must help the industry in some way. (Section 2(1)(ac)).
Statutory Exclusions:
There are certain things that cannot be patented and they are given under Section 3 of the Act, such as:
- Claims for mere discoveries or findings, scientific principles, abstract ideas or thoughts.
- Claims for business methods, mathematical methods.
- Claims for plants and animals, or essentially biological processes (excluding microorganisms).
- Claims for software that does not interact with hardware or provides no technical contribution to an effect (Section 3(k)).
- Claims for traditional knowledge and substances that are “known”.
The Act also seeks to balance public interest by introducing a compulsory licensing scheme and not granting patents that inhibit the availability of “essential” goods, especially medicines and food.
International and Policy Context
India’s patent system is consistent with international norms, particularly the TRIPS Agreement and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
TRIPS requires member countries to provide patents on inventions in all fields of technology for a minimum period of 20 years. TRIPS allows for compulsory licensing, which protects the public interest. Indian patent law’s compliance prohibits an inventor from obtaining a mandatory license. India offers patents, again for a period of 20 years. In 2005, India implemented product patents in pharmaceuticals and chemicals, consistent with TRIPS, and included compulsory licensing provisions to promote access to life-saving medicines.
The PCT allows an inventor to file a single international patent application and then enter the national phase in each member country while preserving the original filing date. India joined the PCT in 1998 and permits the application of filing PCT national phase applications, that enable applicants to obtain protection for their inventions across the globe.
Challenges and Emerging Trends
Recent events, such as the Computer Related Inventions (CRI) Guidelines, 2025 issued by the Indian Patent Office, offer some procedural and compliance principles in the fast-evolving technological dimensions (e.g. AI, blockchain, biotechnology), and help clarify the framework for review of patents in these emerging computer-related areas that will disrupt or impact nearly all industry sectors moving forward. However, we still face challenges especially related to ethical issues, traditional knowledge protection, and the necessity of harmonizing an inventor’s rights with the public interest.
Conclusion
The Indian Patent Act is a recognition of a contemporary legal framework relative to the patent types, classification system and patentability standards applicable and relevant to contemporary knowledge, technology and the changes being made internationally. Such a responsive framework is important to innovation, but also to the ownership and incentive balancing of proprietary rights for public good and to deliver on India’s growth agenda. Additionally, it is important that, as patent law changes over time, future reform and guidance within the confines of the law takes in necessary new scientific, ethical, and societal dilemmas to promote innovation and access.
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WRITTEN BY Stuti Vineet
