• Patent is a limited monopoly right granted by the Government to the inventor(s) of any new and useful process/product in exchange of disclosure of the invention to the public.
• It is an exclusive right through which an inventor can restrict others from manufacturing, using, selling or importing the patented invention for a limited period.

• Patent right encourages innovation by granting exclusive right to the inventor for a limited period and also ensures the availability of information about the new invention to the public at large.
• Patent right, as an intellectual property, can be licensed, assigned or even transferred like a physical property.
• With a patent, the patent owner can take legal action against anyone who makes, sells or uses the patented invention without the consent of the inventor and obtain reasonable royalty/damages during the validity of the patent.

• First patent registration in India dates back to 1856 during the British colonial period.
• Currently, patent rights in India are protected under the Patents Act of 1970 and Patent Rules of 2003.
• The registration procedures are being administered by four patent offices located at New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata functioning under the Controller General of Patents, Trademarks and Designs.
• Since patent right is territorial in nature, patents granted in India will not provide universal protection. It can be enforced only within the territory of India.
• Applicants who wish to protect their invention in multiple countries must obtain separate patents in each country/region desired.

• Applicant(s) himself can file an application for patent at the appropriate patent office. Also the inventor can engage a registered patent agent or patent attorney to file and prosecute his patent application.
• A foreign applicant who is not a resident or who has no place of business in India must file the patent application through a registered patent agent or must give an address for service in India.
• A patent application can be filed physically at the patent office or electronically using the patent e-filing facility available at the IP India website.
• The applicant has an option to file a simple provisional application with description of the invention to get a filing date. A complete specification with full description of the invention, drawings and claims must be filed within 12 months from the provisional filing date.
• India is a member state to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Hence claiming convention priority is possible in India within 12 months from the earliest foreign application filing date.
• Also India is a party to the Patent Co-operation Treaty and international patent application can be filed from/designated for India.

• In India patents are granted for new process or product that involves inventive steps and capable of being applicable industrially.
• Also, the invention must not fall under the category of non-patentable inventions listed under sections 3 and 4 of the Patents Act.

• Granted patents are valid in India for a period of twenty years from the date of filing complete specification in India, subject to the payment of annual renewal fee starting two years from the application filing date and submission of statement of commercial working of the patented invention in India every year.

A patent registration involves complex procedure and legal process that may last up to six years and requires lots of expertise. Each and every step taken during prosecution of a patent application must be carefully considered in order to comply with the procedure laid down under the patent laws.

Below is the overview of patent registration system in India;

• Different set of administrative fees are prescribed for patent registrations in India and the non-payment of required fee within the stipulated time limit will lead to deemed abandonment/lapse of the patent.
• There is a 50% fee discount in respect of all fees payable with the patent office is available for patent applications filed by micro/small/medium scale entities registered under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act of 2006.
• Also applications filed by natural persons/individual applicants are eligible for 75% discount in all official fees.

• If the inventor of a patentable product or process wants to avoid disclosure of his invention to the public, keep it himself as a secret or does not want to wait long for the patent office to grant him the exclusive right can protect the invention as a Trade Secret.
• Keeping the information secret and confidential itself is sufficient for protecting the information. The inventor can enjoy the entire benefits until the day the information is disclosed or the secrecy is lost.
• In India, there is no legal mechanism in place for the protection of trade secrets. However the Courts have, time and again, upheld protection to trade secrets under different legislations like law of contracts and under common law principles of breach of confidence.
• But in the digital era, in the absence of proper legal protection, information once disclosed is always lost. Hence companies owning trade secrets must have proper internal policies in place and effective non-disclosure agreements, contracts, licenses and communications with their employees, buyers and other third parties for availing better protection in India.