“Patent on Statue of Liberty, Interesting Inventions of the Week, Prosthetic Tongue, IPR policy reduces pendency of intellectual property applications, says DIPP Secretary, Apple wins patent infringement appeal against University of Wisconsin, Qualcomm accuses Apple of stealing its secrets to help Intel, Apple Sued By MPH Technologies, WIPO and IFPMA Launch New Online Patent-Search Resource to Help Health Agencies Procure Medicines, Brazil court strips Gilead of hepatitis C drug patent and other Weekly Patent News” presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s leading Patent Firm.
Interesting design fact of the Week
On February 18, 1879 Fredric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty was granted a US Design Patent No. 11,023 on the Statue of Liberty.
Indian Patent Statistics
A total of 991 patent applications have been published in the 39th issue of the patent journal. Out of the 991 applications, 81 applications account for early publications while 910 applications account for ordinary publications or publications occurring after the 18 month period. A total of 347 applications have been granted this week thereby marking an increase of about 109.04% in total grants as compared to the preceding week.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 0 | 39 | — |
| Mumbai | 3 | 1 | 66.67% decrease |
| Chennai | 14 | 40 | 185.71% increase |
| Kolkata | 2 | 1 | 50% decrease |
| Total | 19 | 81 | 326.32% increase |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 361 | 242 | 32.96% decrease |
| Mumbai | 65 | 183 | 181.54% increase |
| Chennai | 87 | 432 | 396.55% decrease |
| Kolkata | 179 | 53 | 70.39% decrease |
| Total | 692 | 910 | 31.5% increase |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 711
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 991
Percentage difference: 39.38% increase
First Examination Report (FER) Statistics
A total of 1181 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 | 430 |
| Mumbai | 179 |
| Chennai | 428 |
| Kolkata | 144 |
| Total | 1181 |
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 63 | 128 | 103.17% increase |
| Mumbai | 22 | 49 | 122.73% increase |
| Chennai | 47 | 124 | 163.83% increase |
| Kolkata | 34 | 46 | 35.29% increase |
| Total | 166 | 347 | 109.04% increase |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Of the total 991 patent applications published in the journal last week, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata have contributed a total of 186 applications. The total applications from each of the previously mentioned cities are as follows – 59 applications from Bangalore, 53 applications from Mumbai, 31 applications from Delhi, 28 applications from Chennai and 15 applications from Hyderabad.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2018 – 28th September 2018 | 22nd September 2018 – 28th September 2018 |
| Delhi | 858 | 31 |
| Mumbai | 711 | 53 |
| Bangalore | 879 | 59 |
| Chennai | 516 | 28 |
| Hyderabad | 380 | 15 |
| Kolkata | 204 | 19 |
Total number of applications published by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 29211
- Early publications: 2719
- Ordinary Publications: 26492
Total number of patents granted by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 10388
- Delhi – 3869
- Mumbai – 1265
- Chennai – 3240
- Kolkata – 2020
Indian Industrial Designs Statistics
The designs office has registered a total of 148 designs this week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date now adds to a total of 6507 applications.
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 148
Total designs registered this Week: 148
Percentage Difference: No change
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2018 till date: 6507
Interesting Inventions of the Week
Invention 1 – AN ARTIFICIAL TONGUE PROSTHESIS FOR TASTE RECOGNITION
Patent Application No.: 201741034759
Applicant: SRM UNIVERSITY
Abstract: “ARTIFICIAL TONGUE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME Disclosed herein is a non-toxic artificial tongue (102), which is an integration of bio-materials and micro-electronics with a human body. The artificial tongue (102) is made up of a bio-resin substrate and micro-electronics part. The micro-electronics part is an array of Ion selective field effect transistors or ISFETs (104) and flat interface nerve electrodes (106). The ISFETs (104) senses variable stimuli and based on the stimuli generates a variable current and a variable drain source voltage, which results in an electrical impulse. The flat interface nerve electrodes (106) are configured to receive the electrical impulse(s) and to conduct the electrical impulses onto a set of cranial nerves (108), connected to each pair of said flat interface nerve electrodes (106)” (The abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors)
Invention 2 – SMART RAKAT COUNTER DEVICE
Patent Application No.: 201741009900
Applicant: ALI, Fateh Shahkar
Abstract: “The present invention provides smart Rakat counter. In an aspect, the present disclosure relates to a portable device for indicating a current or completed Rakah of a plurality of Rakat performed by a user during a prayer. The portable device includes a display, a compass, at least two proximity sensors, and a processor. In an embodiment, display can display a current prayer count. The compass shows east, west, north, south, and a qiblat direction required during the prayer. The proximity sensors detect one or more positions of the user while the Rakah performed during the prayer, the proximity sensors detects the positions of the user within a predetermined distance. The processor is operably associated with the display and the proximity sensors for updating the display to the current prayer count of the Rakat based on the change in the one or more positions detected of the user during the prayer.” (The abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors)
Invention 3 – SMART ADAPTIVE TRAFFIC CONTROLLER
Patent Application No.: 201741009552
Applicant: B PONVANNAN et al.
Abstract: “The Smart Adaptive Traffic Control is an automated traffic governing system which detects the traffic in both lanes and thereby compares the traffic density and gives the Green signal on the basis of priority and also sets a time duration in accordance with the traffic density i.e. More the traffic density, more will be duration to clear the traffic in that lane. Less the traffic density, lesser will be the duration to clear the traffic. This system proves to be quite more efficient that the existing system as it ensures less time is being wasted for less dense lanes and concentrates on the more dense lanes. This thereby controls people from wanting to violate traffic rules and regulations in order to meet their time schedules.” (The abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors)
Indian Patent Updates
IPR policy reduces pendency of intellectual property applications, says DIPP Secretary
Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek, at the 58th Series of the Meetings of the General Assembly of WIPO held on September 24 in Geneva said that disposal of patent applications has increased sharply by 58 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to the previous fiscal. “Since the adoption of the National IPR Policy in 2016, there has been a considerable reduction in the pendency of IP applications and increase in disposal and examination due to large-scale augmentation of manpower in Indian IP offices”, says Abhishek. He also pointed out that the Indian Patent Law has sufficient safeguards to prevent evergreening and ensure that patents are only awarded when genuine innovation has occurred.
Patent /Design Infringements, Disputes, Licensing and Settlements
Apple wins patent infringement appeal against University of Wisconsin
Apple has won a reversal of the judgment passed against it in 2015 in a patent infringement dispute involving the University of Wisconsin. A federal jury in 2015 had found Apple guilty of infringing several of the University’s patents and ordered the company to pay $ 234 million to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Last year, a judge raised that figure to $ 506 million after finding that Apple continued the acts of patent infringement until it expired at the end of 2016. The US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington DC has now reversed the initial decision which comes as a major victory for Apple.
Qualcomm accuses Apple of stealing its secrets to help Intel
Qualcomm Inc in its latest salvo against Apple, has accused the latter of stealing its chip-making secrets and giving them to rival Intel Corp. The accusation comes after Qualcomm told investors in July it believed its modem chips were completely removed from the newest generation of iPhones released this month, leaving Intel as the sole supplier.
The dispute, taking place in San Diego County Superior Court, is one strand of a wide-ranging legal battle in which Apple has accused Qualcomm of unfair patent licensing practices. Qualcomm, the world’s largest mobile phone chipmaker, has in turn accused Apple of patent infringement.
Apple Sued By MPH Technologies
In what could count as a challenging week for Apple, the tech giant has been slapped with a lawsuit from a Finnish Company called MPH Technologies. In this latest lawsuit against Apple, MPH Technologies has accused Apple of infringing on eight of its patents relating to secure communication technologies which Apple uses in its iMessage and FaceTime app among others.
MPH Technologies further claimed that it has been rather patient and lenient as it emailed Apple several times regarding the infringement in 2016 and even offered to license the patents to Apple before in 2017 and 2017, which fell on deaf ears.
International Patent Updates
WIPO and IFPMA Launch New Online Patent-Search Resource to Help Health Agencies Procure Medicines
WIPO in association with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), has launched a brand new online tool that will help the procurement agencies in understanding the worldwide patent status of medicines. Being named as Pat-INFORMED, the current initiative allows the patent holders in providing information about patents that cover approved medicines in an open and free access database, which dually serves as a platform where procurement agencies can make direct inquiries to companies. WIPO being the host to the database is to provide resources for its development, whereas, IFPMA is being supported by 20 leading research-based biopharmaceutical companies for this initiative in order to have a coordinated and consistent and approach.
Brazil court strips Gilead of hepatitis C drug patent
A Brazilian court has ordered the revocation of a patent issued to Gilead for its hepatitis C drug – Sofosbuvir, sold under the brand name Sovaldi. The order comes at the behest of a presidential candidate who pushed for the move, paving the way for cheaper generics. Earlier in September, center-left presidential candidate Marina Silva and her running mate filed a request asking that the patent be overturned, saying such a move would significantly reduce costs for patients.
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.
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