Patent Strategies for Acquisitions in India, Patents in India are just like any other country. Patents signify precious properties used for protecting innovation, new products, or new novel technologies. Patents give the absolute rights of inventions to the inventors to exclude third parties from using, constructing, selling, or offering their product to the market. With the transformation being observed in the Indian economy, there is a growing need of getting patents for Indian businesses as well as the international players.
This paper outlines strategies and techniques adopted by persons and organizations to acquire patents in India, what procedures are made use of for such a situation, and ways to optimize acquisition of patents toward business success. Further, how businesses can adopt patents for supremacy in the markets using IP law and patent portfolio.
Introduction: Importance of Patents in India
India is one of the large markets in the world today, mostly concerning technological, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing sectors. Patents act as a guarantee for innovation and research and development, which brings growth to an economy. These are some main reasons why currently many organizations spend time acquiring patents and thus developing competitive advantages among industries.
In India, a patent becomes possible only through legal groundwork with appropriate market opportunities and strategic value associated with the intellectual property in question. Whether or not a company is interested, it has motives behind looking to expand their portfolio, develop new markets, or acquire some rights over the technology. Therefore, without such strategies in a process of getting the patent acquisition, it simply isn’t going to work in any way for its success.
Before moving on to the methods of obtaining patents, it would be essential to know about the patent system of India. The law governing patents in India is the Patents Act, 1970. Patents are governed by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks (CGPDTM). A patent is granted when the invention possesses the following aspects:
Novelty: The discovery must be novel and not obvious.
Must consist of an inventive step which would not even emerge obvious to a person skilled in the art to which it pertains.
Must be of industrial applicability.
Should not fall within excluded inventions as referred to in the Patents Act, such as scientific theories, business methods, or aesthetic designs. Patent Strategy in India.
The acquisition can be in the form of filing new patents, buying existing patents, or licensing agreements. Some of the best ways to get patents in India are as follows:
1. Filing New Patents
Perhaps, one of the most common means by which patents are obtained is new patent applications submitted in the Indian Patent Office. This method has worked excellently for companies and persons in guarding new inventions, technologies, or processes.
And here is the process on how to apply for new patents in India:
Patent Search: This is to be conducted before a patent application. This will determine whether any inventions similar have already been available. A search of prior arts ensures the inventions are novel and not patented prior to this point. This identifies possible competitors, as well as market opportunities.
Proper Patent Application:
This is an application that is supposed to describe technical contents regarding the inventive novelty of the invention and with its industrial application and with an innovative step. Such application also carries diagrams, drawings, or any prototype that can elucidate the working properly.
Patent filing:
There is done at the Indian Patent Office, where filling has also become online or in person. Nonetheless, while the patent specification has to be filed, there have to be claims wherein the scope of the claim determines how extensively a person’s protection should extend.
Examination Application:
In case the patent application has been filed at the Indian Patent Office it is pragmatically very essential to request the Indian Patent Office to examine the application. The Indian Patent Office Examiner would thus look into the application and determine whether the same complies with the requirements under relevant law and technology.
Patent Prosecution:
Should the patent office raise objections to an application, then the applicant has to face a response and draft relevant amendments to an application. For inventions that have relative complexities and henceforth related objections, it takes about a month or so. The filing date of patent is taken as determinative if and when the whole requirements of that patent application is satisfied. Upon which, such inventor shall, from the succeeding 20-year period from date, be taken to be regarded as the sole proprietor of this particular invention. This approach provides protection of business intellectual property from the time it is started. It, however is cumbersome as well as expensive since filing and prosecuting patents requires much time, expertise as well as resources
2. Acquisition of Patents in Existence by Purchase or Transfer
The other strategic acquisition route in India is through acquiring ownership or transferring the ownership of existing patents. This time-saving strategy has already obtained patents whose protection can be realized instantly, since they have already been issued.
Existing patents acquisition is acquired in the following ways:
Identify Target Patents the target patents are such patents that deal with your business technology, your industry, or strategic goals. This too may be done via patent databases, such as: INPASS for the Indian Patent Advanced Search System. Similarly, and globally, on Epicene.
Patent Intermediaries /Patent Agent. Another option could be to hire the patent brokers/agents as middlemen between the patent sellers and buyers. An agent patent broker-agent may represent the role of showing the available patents that buyers can purchase, deals for quotes of value for the same patents, and bargaining of terms.
Due Diligence: Conduct due diligence on the patent prior to purchase in order to look at legal status of the patent and value potential as well as any existing encumbrances. Examples can include checks for whether the patent is still in force or whether it has licensed third parties or is still in active litigation cases.
The Acquisition Negotiation It is after identification of an interested patent. There may now begin the negotiations pertaining to the sale or transfer of ownership. Conditions of sale entail the price and mode of paying as well as any guarantee made. All this is spelt out in the sale agreement.
Assignment: While doing the sale or assignment, the purchaser has to lodge his assignment in Indian Patent Office for recording purposes, along with taking a certification issued from them of having done transfer to him.
Acquisition of already patented works is yet another viable strategy which would help you in broadening the scope of the patent portfolio to its maximum at very high velocity and acquisition readied technologies within a short space of time; you need to check carefully the patent for quality enough so that no hidden liabilities ensue.
3. Acquisition through Patent Licensing Agreement
Patent rights in India can also be obtained in another way: through licensing agreements. Licensing allows businesses to use patented technology without acquiring the patent. This is extremely helpful to business enterprises intending to use patented technology but have no desire to own it or any liability that follows ownership of a patent.
There are two types of patent licenses:
This license of exclusivity enables the licensee to acquire an exclusive license, and this is quite different because they are going to receive all rights of applying patented technology in a given territory or market. Out of all types of licenses, an exclusive license is the most precious one, which will grant an advantage in the competition over the other users.
Non-Exclusive License: The ‘non-exclusive license’ is believed to refer to the fact that, through the patented technology, the licensor cannot restrict a firm to exclusive rights and only allow such rights to another company. Therefore, it grants less exclusivity than the others. However on low entry costs into a market, it’s very attractive for firms looking forward to entering a market.
Important considerations when entering a patent licensing agreement:
Terms Negotiation: These include royalty rates, schedule of payment, geographic coverage, and licensing time.
Patent Validation: Before taking the license of the patent, rights offered should have strength and enforceability enough. A well-crafted patent would ensure standing even against the possible attacks.
Monitoring and Enforcement: Sometimes, it’s still a burden on the patent owner when in a licensing agreement to monitor and enforce the patent rights.
Licensing is no-risk to acquire valuable patents without owning and the owner gets a perpetual flow of revenue in royalties.
4. Patent Pools and Alliances
Patent pools and alliances are a type of cooperation between different patent owners, where the aggregated intellectual property benefits them both. In this kind of cooperation, companies can pool together patents in a broad scope of work within an emerging or highly competitive industry.
How to use patent pools and alliances:
These include industry-specific patent pools, particularly in industries such as telecommunication, pharmaceutical, and consumer electronics that pool and share some of the key technologies with limited risk to litigation. In this case, a firm may license its technology with the other pool members.
There must be strategic alliances with other firms or research establishments in order to co-develop, share, or commercialize patents. The alliance is ideal when the patented technologies are in a related field or even in developmental stages.
Cross-Licensing: It is the agreement of cross-licensing involving another patent holder wherein the parties enjoy the right of mutual use of their patents. For business firms interested in litigation costing enough and is broad, it will prove quite beneficial through cross-licensing. Patent pools and alliances provide the ease of acquisition of patents with further reduction in risk associated with single patent ownership.
Conclusion:
Obtaining patents in India enables a company to secure innovation, enhance their competitive position in the market, and strengthen their technology portfolio. They can apply for new patents or purchase already granted patents. Another option available is securing a licensing agreement or exploring facilities offered by a patent pool.
An acquisition approach for a patent must be well-read about the landscape of patents in the country with a sharp eye for valuable intellectual property and be legally equipped to find one’s way through the maze of the patent system. Patents acquired efficiently will help firms maximize their IP assets, innovation, and thereby long-term growth.
FAQ
1. How is a patent acquired in India?
Patent acquisition process takes between 2 and 5 years in India, as the complexity of the invention varies and depends upon the objections during the process of examination.
2. Can patents owned by other countries be used in India?
Of course. There is national phase entry which enables patents that other countries would grant to them and could have that enforced inside India. There should be filing and application into the Indian Patent Office seeking protection from the patent of India. This would give some protection upon having the patented property.
3. What would be the expense to procure a patent inside India?
Cost to acquire a patent would be typically filing fees and attorney fees in addition to patent maintenance fees. Filing fee could range between a few thousand rupees to a few lakhs depending on the type of application or the kind of services that are desired.
4. Which is preferable/license patents or buy them?
Patent Licensing is the alternative that exists for firms who would like to use patented technology but do not want to purchase them. Saves on a more significant initial investment and earns future revenues in terms of royalties. Patents have a formal buying process and are very expensive.
5. How can I search patents on sale from India?
Contact INPASS (Indian Patent Advanced Search System) database or patent brokers and agents who offer such services for searching available-for-sale patents.
