Report provides recommendations on enabling ease of doing business in India
Team News Riveting
Raipur, January 9
In a bid to streamline pre- and post-grant opposition proceedings and enable ease of doing business, Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) Raipur, today presented a report titled, ‘A Study of Patent Opposition System’ to Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ms Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Centre for Intellectual Property, Innovation and Technology of Hidayatullah National Law
University has piloted the research project on ‘A Study of the Patent Opposition System in India’. The
report authored by Prof. V C Vivekanandan, Prof. Uday Shankar and Ms. Garima Panwar with the data
collected by Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan, a leading law firm in India, the study provides a detailed
analysis of the delay that occurs at every stage of the pre-grant and post-grant opposition proceedings in
India. It focuses on life sciences patent applications/patents in which the opposition proceedings have
been ongoing between July 2016 and July 2021, to understand the recent trends in the procedure
followed by the Indian Patent Office.
Elaborating on the objectives of the study, Prof. V.C. Vivekanandan (Vice Chancellor, HNLU), said,
“We undertook this study with a three-fold objective. First- to comparatively analyze the various stages of
filing and opposition of patents across countries including the European Union, United States, China,
Japan, and India. Second- to critically analyze the challenges faced by Indian Patent Office in pre-grant
opposition, and third- to study the recent trends of patent applications’ filing and opposition procedure
followed by the Indian Patent Office.”
Patent prosecution in India is a long-drawn procedure. The rate of disposal and the period of pendency in
India affect the rights of the applicant and may affect the ease of doing business priorities for the
investors. As Malathi Lakshmikumaran (Executive Director, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan
Attorneys) points out, “It is an undisputable fact that patents play a significant role in innovation and
thereby, economic growth. While the government in India has amended patent regulations to boost
innovation, the pre and post grant opposition proceedings are tedious and often make it difficult for
innovator companies to make valuable and sometimes, life-saving products reach patients. The
restructuring recommended by this report will improve the patent landscape in India and make it more
inventor and/or investor friendly, thereby helping in ease of doing business in India.”
Some of the recommendations highlighted in the report include, allowing pre-grant oppositions to be filed
within a period of 6-12 months from the date of issuance of the first examination report (FER); immediate
appointing of hearing upon receipt of a reply from the applicant; robust guidelines to ensure the efficient
disposal of cases; clear guidelines to assess the opposition and notify the applicants among others.
