IPRPatent

What is the Culture for Working of Patent in India?

calendar22 Apr, 2021
timeReading Time: 4 Minutes
What is the Culture for Working of Patent in India?

According to Indian legislators for a successful IPR system, the patents are approved not only to permit patentees to have the benefit of monopoly over the patented article but also to protect the purpose that the inventions are worked on a commercial scale in India and can be used to the complete extent that is rationally practicable and shall be without unjustified delay.

Under the Indian Patents Act, it is mandatory for every licensee and the patentee of an approved patent to file a statement concerning the extent of the work upon the patented invention on a commercial range in India. The statements of working of patent are obligatory to be filed every year in reference of all the patents that are granted in India.

The time period to file the statement is 31st March every year for the previous calendar year. In this article, we will know more about the statements of working of patent in India.

What is Working of Patents?

Under Chapter XVI, Section 83 of the Patents Act 1970, is titled as “Working of patents, revocation and compulsory licences” provides us with the common principles related to the working of patented inventions. This section mentions the legislative reasoning behind obtaining patents license, and that patents are approved to promote inventions and to protect the working of the patent articles in our country as under Section 83 (a). Moreover, from the much bigger viewpoint of the Act, the patenting system aims to maintain a quid pro quo system.

The purpose of granting the monopoly over the patented product by the government is that not to let the licensee or the patentee to propagate his inventive information and make the public aware about the same by either publishing the patent or by working more on the patented invention or by granting the patented invention to the public at large at a reasonable cost. Section 83 is not a mandatory rule it just provides acts as a guiding principle, although it is useful in knowing the prerequisite conditions and importance of working of patent inventions in India.

Moreover, the statement as given by the licensees and patentees can also be helpful in knowing the efficiency of the patenting system for different companies and industries that make use of the patented inventions in their business[1] course.

What is Form 27?

The Indian Patent Office, after consultation with the stakeholders on draft form has now issued the final formation of Form 27 for submitting the statement of working of patent.

  • Indian Patent law requires every licensee or patentee to whom the patent has been granted to file a statement on the working of patent with regards to the extent to which that patent invention has been worked on commercially in India.
  • This statement is provided in the Form 27 of the Patents Rules. It is important to file the working of patent although it does not immediately leads to forfeiture of the licensing rights or the ownership of patent but on continuous failure to submit the statement would lead to revocation or rejection of the patent license and eventually loss of the patentee’s rights.

Read our article:Patent Office Response Action: An Overview

Changes Brought By the New Form 27

  • A single Form 27 can now be filed for several other multiple patents. These multiple patents ought to belong to or be related with the same patentee. This will happen in cases where a specific patent invention cannot be separated from the approx revenue generated from related patents and so a single request can be filed in such cases.
  • Earlier the Form 27 had to be given for submission at the end of the calendar year and had a three months grace period. But now, the new form has to be given for submission at the end of the financial year i.e. on March 31 and has a grace period of six months and the data can be submitted till September 31 for every year.
  • The new form is simplified and does not necessitate the patentee to give:-
    • Details of licenses and sub-licenses;
    • Details of importation– only the approx value shall be sufficient (import country details);
    • The statement on to what extent the public requirement has been fulfilled either partly or adequately at a fair and reasonable price.
  • Where in case of multiple patents- the patentee will have to record all the patents which is intended for filing in that form. In additional, the patentee shall also mention whether the patent product is worked or not worked.
  • The patentee shall also provide approx revenue accrued from the working of patent and recognize them as imported or manufactured in India.

Consequences of Not Filing the Working Statement

The Patent holders cannot ignore filing of the Statement of patent information considering the given below factors:

Consequences of Not Filing the Working Statement
  • Failure to furnish the statement on patent information shall result with a punishable offence that includes fine that can extend to 10 lakh rupees.
  • Furnishing wrong information is punishable offence with both imprisonment upto six months, or with fine (on hold to amend).
  • It can assist the person interested in looking for a compulsory licence for the patent.
  • A patent can be revoked on the reason of non-working (Section 85 of the Patent Act).

Conclusion

To sum up, Form 27 has reduced the burden on patentees and as it has become more simplified it has made many patentees to furnish their Statement of working of patent. The statement serves the objective of asking the licensee and patentee about their working information and then making it public. The purpose is to inform any interested person in the patent to check and verify that whether the patent can be worked or not to achieve the public’s reasonable requirement in India.

Thus, it has encouraged development in the science and technology sector and the publishing of working of patent has also proved to be advantageous in businesses and trade. Therefore, the patentees must adhere to follow the same and timely file their statement.

Read our article:Foreign Filing License of Patent: An Overview

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