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India

Revision as of 13:04, 2 June 2010 by Ciaran (talk | contribs) (Feedback on the 2008 draft patent manual: syntax)

Patent office practice

Pure software patents are being granted by the Indian patent office, despite being disallowed under s.3(k) of the Indian Patents Act.

2008 patents manual proposal

This issue is still an active danger (as of August 2009). The unclear "per se" term in section 3(k) is particularly worrying.

Feedback on the 2008 draft patent manual

  • FSF India's submitted comments - Could not find a link to this on the Patent Manual Feedback site, has this been sent and did it reach them?
  • Red Hat's submitted comments (quote: "...Indian legislators have clearly chosen to exclude software from the list of patentable inventions ... we herby submit that the Draft Patent Manual should be amended to reflect the will and intent of the Indian Parliament.")
  • All India People's Science Network
  • Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi
  • Japan Intellectual Property Association "We consider that India should provide equal protection accorded in other countries ... “any inventions, whether products or processes, in all fields of technology” shall be patentable" and "We hope that the Manual clearly states that a patent application is not rejected by the statement of “software” or “computer program”"
  • Remfry and Sagar, New Delhi "... it would be illogical to grant a patent for a method, and an apparatus adapted for carrying out the same method, but not for the computer program, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the method and which, when loaded in a computer, is indeed able to carry out that method"
  • FICCI's comments - "The term “computer programme per se” has not been defined. It is to bring to your notice that EPO construes the term “computer programme” “as such” or “per se” to mean a programme that is merely abstract creation, lacking in technical character. In view of this interpretation, it takes a position that “a computer programme claimed by itself is not excluded from patentability if the programme, when running on computer or loaded onto a computer, brings about, or is capable of bringing about, a technical effect which goes beyond the “normal” physical interactions between the programme (software) and the computer (hardware) on which it is running."
  • Anand and Anand, New Delhi - "A computer program having a technical effect and providing a technical solution should be allowed without constrains of hardware. In view of the above, software related invention may be patentable if accompanied by a novel and non obvious technical effect which adds the art of technology"
  • Confederation of Indian Industry - "As a general rule, a novel solution to a problem relating to the internal operations of a computer, although comprising a program or subroutine, will necessarily involve technological features of the computer hardware or the the manner in which it operates and hence may be patentable"
  • FFII's analyses

Response to the Draft Patent Manual

April 2005 legislative proposal

In April 2005, there was a proposal to make software ideas patentable, but the Indian parliament rejected this.

External links

Press coverage