“Interesting Patents, Iron Man Armor, Patent by God, Google and Tencent, TiVo and Google sign Patent Licensing Agreement, Trade Secret theft, Restoration of Lapsed Patents, Patent Tip of the Week and other Weekly Patent News,” presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s leading Patent Firm.
Patent Quote of the Week
“You should be innovating so fast that you’re invalidating your prior patents” – Elon Musk
Indian Patent Statistics
There has been a drastic decrease in the total number of patent application published between the 13th and 19th January 2018. A total of the 759 patent applications have been published of which, 75 applications account for early publications while 684 applications account for ordinary publications or publications occurring after the 18 month period. A total of 240 applications have been granted between this period, thereby marking an increase of about 20% in grants.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 5 | 30 | 500% increase |
| Mumbai | 11 | 18 | 63.64% increase |
| Chennai | 12 | 24 | 100% increase |
| Kolkata | 7 | 3 | 57.14% increase |
| Total | 35 | 75 | 114.29% increase |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 424 | 453 | 6.84% increase |
| Mumbai | 79 | 73 | 7.59% decrease |
| Chennai | 236 | 140 | 40.68% decrease |
| Kolkata | 18 | 18 | No change |
| Total | 757 | 684 | 9.64% decrease |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 792
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 759
Percentage difference: 4.17% decrease
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 83 | 78 | 6.02% decrease |
| Mumbai | 13 | 29 | 123.08% increase |
| Chennai | 80 | 91 | 13.75% increase |
| Kolkata | 24 | 42 | 75% increase |
| Total | 200 | 240 | 20% increase |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Of the total 759 patent applications published in the journal last week, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata have contributed a total of 144 applications. The total applications from each of the previously mentioned cities for the past week are as follows – 72 from Delhi, 23 from Mumbai, 20 from Bangalore, 17 from Chennai, 8 from Hyderabad and 4 from Kolkata.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2018 – 19th January 2018 | 13th January – 19th January 2018 |
| Delhi | 124 | 72 |
| Mumbai | 70 | 23 |
| Bangalore | 41 | 20 |
| Chennai | 36 | 17 |
| Hyderabad | 27 | 8 |
| Kolkata | 11 | 4 |
Total number of applications published by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 2449
- Early publications: 227
- Ordinary Publications: 2222
Total number of patents granted by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 681
- Delhi – 263
- Mumbai – 71
- Chennai – 237
- Kolkata – 110
First Examination Report (FER) Statistics
A total of 1211 FER’s have been issued last week. Applicants and their agents can check if any of their patent applications have been examined by referring the journal available here.
| City | No. of FER Issued |
| Delhi | 388 |
| Mumbai | 222 |
| Chennai | 408 |
| Kolkata | 193 |
| Total | 1211 |
Indian Industrial Designs Statistics
The designs office has registered a total of 204 designs this week. This marks a decrease of about 7.27% from the total number of designs registered in the previous week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date is 643 applications.
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 220
Total designs registered this Week: 204
Percentage Difference: 7.27% decrease
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 643
Interesting Patents & Designs
The journal of patents and designs published on the 19th of January 2018 quite a few interesting patents. Here are a couple of patents that we think you may certainly find interesting.
Patent Application 1 – Iron Man suit in the making?
Patent Application No.: 201711013443
Title of the Invention: ALL IN ONE ARMOUR
Applicant: BHARAT KWATRA
Abstract: “A protective shield is disclosed. The protective shield comprises a voice operated head assembly. The voice operated head assembly further comprises a camera, a speech input unit and an augmented reality apparatus. The augmented reality apparatus displays one or more live updates captured by the camera. The augmented reality apparatus further displays the status of one or more active components of the protective shield. The protective shield also comprises of a processor which receives an input from the speech input unit and activates the corresponding one or more active components of the protective shield. The processor communicates with the augmented reality apparatus in real-time to send the status of the one or more active components of the protective shield.” (The abstract has been taken from the patent specification as is and has not been corrected for errors.)
Patent application 2 – A temple and its patent
Patent Application No.: 201641023917
Title of the Invention: METHOD OF MAKING ORNAMENTAL THREADS WORN AS SPIRITUAL BRACELETS
Applicant: SRI SWAMBHU ESHWAR SWAMY TEMPLE
Abstract: “A method of making ornamental threads worn as spiritual bracelet and tying the bracelet to a pilgrim is disclosed. The spiritual bracelet is made by selecting a white colored polymer yarns and dipping the polymer yarns into the prepared color solution. The dipped polymer yarns are rinsed and dried after coloring. Then the colored yarns are separated to weave into thin threads and knots are prepared at either edges depending on the length. Connecting silk thread tassels at either edges of weaved thread and joining both edges of the tassel at one end ready to be worn in ornamental designs. The spiritual bracelet is tied to the pilgrim by making a plurality of knots at multiple places.” (The abstract has been taken from the patent specification as is and has not been corrected for errors.)
Patent Licensing & Commercialization
Google and Tencent to enter into patent licensing agreement
In a bid to expand itself in China, Google has announced that it would be entering into a patent licensing deal with the Chinese social media and gaming firm, Tencent Holdings Ltd. While Google has not yet disclosed the scope of the new patent deal but has hinted that the deal while being financially large, will also result in a decrease of the potentials of litigation over patent infringement. Local and state judges may also be reluctant to enforce patent decisions in cases involving patents obtained through automatic application.
TiVo and Google expand patent license agreement
Entertainment technology major TiVo Corporation has announced that Google and TiVo have expanded their multiyear patent licensing agreement to expressly include YouTube TV. The agreement has previously been known to cover Google’s use of TiVo’s patented technologies worldwide while offering TiVo a license to use Google’s products and services across internet-based platforms and devices.
International Patent Updates
Experts predict explosion of patent litigation cases in Brazil
The Brazilian government recently announced its intention to introduce an emergency measure as an “extraordinary solution” to Brazil’s patent crisis. After the announcement by the Brazilian government that it would automatically grant 231,000 pending applications with no examination, experts have predicted that Brazil is likely to see an explosion of patent litigations. There is an additional concern that patents granted via the automatic waiver may, in the long run, be vulnerable to invalidity challenges in post-grant opposition, as well as the Federal Courts.
Trade Secrets
Former IBM developer sentenced to prison for selling trade secrets
A former developer for IBM was sentenced to five years in prison by a Chinese Court after the court found the accused guilty of trade secret theft and misappropriation. IBM accused that the developer stole high tech trade secrets with the intent to profit himself and the Chinese government. The technology that was allegedly sold involved a property software for a clustered file system which facilitates faster computer performance by coordinating work among multiple servers.
BananaIP’s Patent / Design Tip of the Week
Restoration of lapsed patents
If a patentee fails to pay the renewal fee within the prescribed period and also within the extendable period of six months by requesting an extension of time, the patent ceases to have effect or lapses before the date of actual expiration. Patent lapsed, due to non-payment of renewal/maintenance fee can be restored within eighteen months from the date of lapse. If even within this period a patentee does not apply for restoration, the restoration of the patent most often becomes impossible.
Author: BIP’s Patent Attorneys
Led by Senior Partners, Somashekar Ramakrishna, Nitin Nair and Vinita Radhakrishnan, BIP’s Patent Attorneys are among the leading patent practitioners in the country. They work with clients such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Samsung, HCL, Eureka Forbes, and Titan. They specialize in IT/Software, Electronics/Telecom, Mechanical, Automotive, and Bio/Pharma domains, and help clients with patent filing, prosecution, management and strategy in India, and across the world.
The weekly patent news initiative is a part of their pro bono work, and is aimed at spreading patent awareness. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and backlink to the source.
If you have any questions, you may write to BIP’s Patent Attorneys – contact@bananaip.com.
