This article is written by VAIBHAV SINGH, Student of BALLB (3rd year) of ASIAN LAW COLLEGE during his internship at Ledroit India.
Abstract
The “Rights and obligations of the patentee in India” is the primary focus of this article.
A patentee, often known as a patent holder, is someone who has been granted a patent. After the grant of the Patent, the patentee are provided with some rights related to it and when some right are awarded to anyone, there must be some obligation or restriction. furthermore, in this article we will learn about the rights and obligations given to the patentee by the controller of patent
Keywords: Intellectual property, patents, TRIPs, Patent holder, Patentee, Invention, Product, Innovation, Manufacturing, IPR, Duty,Obligation.
What is Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property granted to an inventor for a limited period of time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention. The inventor must show that their invention is new, useful, and non-obvious. The invention must also be disclosed in enough detail so that someone else could reproduce it without undue experimentation. In order to obtain a patent, technical information relevant to the innovation must be made available in the application. Applications for patents are normally handled and approved by government organizations. A patent grants its owner the legal right to prevent others from creating, using, or selling an invention for a set amount of time. In the majority of nations, patent rights are governed by private law, and the only way for the patent holder to have their rights upheld is by suing someone who violates the patent.
The laws related to patent in India is goverened by the provisions of the Patent Act,1970. The Patent Act of 1970 and the Patent Rules of 1972 came into the effect on 20th April,1972 which resulted in replacing the Indian Patents and Design Act of 1911.The Ayyangar Committee Report, which was led by Justice N. Rajagopala Ayyangar, served as the sole foundation for the act of 1970.
The most recent changes to the Patents Act,1970 were made in 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2006. These adjustments were required to bring the Patents Act into compliance with TRIPS(Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is known as TRIPS).
Who Is Patentee or Patent Holder?
A patentee, often known as a patent holder, is someone who has been granted a patent(The exclusive right to use or licensing a product). A patentee is the person who invents a new product, an enhancement to an existing product, or a brand-new method of producing an existing product. The patent holder has a variety of rights, including the power to grant licenses to others and authorize them to produce and sell the patented product. A patent holder develops a technique or object that grants the patent holder exclusive obligations and rights as a patentee. Patentee’s exclusive rights and obligations are not unlimited, and such rights can be revoked in extraordinary instances when it is necessary to balance the interests of the Patent holders as well as others.
What Are The Rights Of Patent Holder?
After the grant of the Patent, the patentees are provided with some exclusive rights. The patent act, 1970 provides a number of rights to the patentees so that the patentee can gain some profit from the patented product. These rights are-
- Exclusive Right
As we discussed earlier that patent can be given to a product or process. Section 48 of the Patent Act,1970 provides exclusive rights to the patentee by limiting the patented item in both cases, whether it is a product or a process. Section 48 reads that-
If the subject matter of the patentee’s patent is a product, the exclusive right to patent forbids other parties from manufacturing, offering for sale, selling, importing, or utilising the patentee’s product without his permission.
If the patentee obtains a patent for a process, the patentee’s exclusive right restricts other parties from using, selling, or importing the product without the patentee’s approval.
Furthermore, patent holders have the right to licence agreements, patent assignments, and succession transfers.
- Right to exploit the patent
In India, the patentee is granted the right to use, sell, manufacture, and distribute the patented innovation. If the invention is a manufacturing process, the patent holder may share the process with another person. Furthermore, the agent of the patent holder may enforce this right.
If a new innovation is classified as a commodity, the patent holder is granted exclusive rights in India to manufacture, market, and use the innovation for specific purposes. If, on the other hand, the innovation relates to the manufacture of a substance or an object, the exclusive right to use the manufacturing process or system within India’s borders is included in the right to exploit.
Indian patent law takes into account a patentee’s exclusive right to seek commercial profits from the innovation. It encourages inventors to continue their creative endeavours by assuring them that their ideas will be legally protected and that no one else will be able to replicate them within a specified time frame (mostly 20 years).
- Right to grant or access licenses
The Patentee is given the right to grant license or transfer rights or enter into some arrangement for some consideration. As per the section 70 of the Patent Act,1970 the patentee or the patent holder is empowered to assign or grant licenses to any other party or parties for the purpose of manufacturing or marketing the product. If there are several owners of the patented item then all the owners of the patented items must agree as a group to grant or assign or issue the license to any other party.To be valid and lawful, the assignment or licence must be in writing and registered with the Controller of Patents. A document of assignment of a Patent is not admissible as proof of title to the Patent unless it is not registered, and this restriction applies to the assignee, not the assignor. (According to Section 69(5) of the Patent Act of 1970)
- Right to Surrender the Patent
As per the section 63 of the Patent Act,1970 the Patentee of a Patent has the right to surrender a Patent at any time and at his/her own discretion by giving notification to the controller in a manner specified in the act. The controller then publishes the submission in the specified manner. thereafter, parties interested in obtaining the patent ownership may directly approach the controller. Following that, the controller verifies the party claims and transfers the ownership.
- Right to Apply for the Patent of Addition
Section 54 to 56 of the Patent Act,1970 talks about the Right to Apply for the Patent of Addition. This provision permits the patent holder to make changes or modification in the existing product or invention. In these types of cases, after receiving the acceptance for the modified invention, the patent holder is granted the right to the modified invention. The patentee rights provided to the modified invention is same right which are provided to the original invention.
- Right to Sue in Case of Infringement
Patent infringement refers to the violation of any rights which are provided to the patent holder. This means that if a patented product is utilised, manufactured, or sold commercially by someone who is not authorised to do so, he will be charged with patent infringement. In the case of patent infringement, the patentee may file a complaint with either a district court or the high court. If the court determines that the defendant infringes on the patentee’s rights, the offender will be sentenced for permanent injunction or award the damages to the plaintiff.
Obligations Of Patent Holder
Once the patent is granted to the patentee, The Patent Act also imposed some obligations on the patentee, which must be fulfilled. The obligations of the patentee are as follow: (Image 1).
- Duty to disclosed the patent
Section 8 of the Patent Act of 1970 mandates the applicant to publicly disclose the invention. Section 8(1) of the Patent Act of 1970 states that the patentee is required to reveal all necessary data concerning the remote application of an identical or near-identical invention at the time of submitting the patent application or within six months of applying. It also specified that the patentee has to record all the listed specification in the patent application. Furthermore, the patentee should also make effort to reveal any areas of interest that may be adopted in the subsequent application.
- Duty to Respond to the objection
Before accepting the inspection request, the inspection demand is send to an analyst by the controller of the patent, who assesses the development and submits a report to the controller of patent known as the First Examination Report (FER). Specific complaints may be mentioned in the First Examination Report in some situations. Patentees are expected to respond to the objections which are mentioned in the report within a period of one year. If the patentee fails to respond to the objection, the application of the patentee will be considered surrendered by the controller of patent.
- Duty to request for examination
In comparison to other intellectual property rights, the patent registration process does not provide any kind of programmed examination for the evaluation of the issuance of the patent application. In the section 11(B) of the patent act of 1970, it is clearly mentioned that it is the obligation of the patentee to request the controller of the patent to look at the development or growth of the patent
- Duty to clear all objection
It is the patent holder’s responsibility to respond to any oppositions and clear all objections filed in relation to his or her invention. A meeting may also be required if the Patent Controller has not performed their duties. If the patent holder fails to respond to complaints about his or her invention, the patent controller has the authority to give the patent right to any objecting party.
- Duty to pay statutory fees
The patentees are obliged to pay all the statutory charges incurred during the registration process in order to get his/her invention patented. If the patentee fails to make the payment, his/her invention will not be considered for the grant of patent. Section 142 of the patent act,1970 talks about the statutory fees for the application of patent which is prescribed by the central government. Section 142 also talks about the consequences of not paying the fees.
Conclusion
A patent is a person’s exclusive right to enjoy the benefits of his/her own inventions. Any method or product can be patented if certain conditions are met. Patent rights in India encourage people to conduct more scientific research so that our country can prosper. The Patent Act of 1970 contains provisions relating to the Rights and Obligations of a Patentee. The Controller of Patents is responsible for overseeing all of the Patentee’s rights and obligations under the Patent Act of 1970. The Patentee must follow all of the Rights and Obligations.
