Patent stats from the Indian Patent Office, Patent Publications by City, PCT Filing Statistics from India, Patent cases, Amazon’s Delivery Drone Patents, International Round Table on Evolving Jurisprudence on Patent Remedies by NLSIU, WIPO patent statistics, Patent Licensing and more, presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s Premier New Age IP Firm.
Patent quote of the Week
“You can derive value from the Indian patent system, provided you know how it works. Stop cribbing about how it is not like another country’s system, and start thinking about how you can gain business value.” – Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala, Renowned IP Attorney, Author and Professor.
Patent stats from the Indian Patent Office (10th March 2017 to 17th March 2017)
With 311 publications between March 10 and March 17, as compared to 757 publications between March 3 and March 10, activity at the patent office seems to have slowed down significantly. The publications in the previous week have dropped by a large 58.91%, while grants in a similar trend have dipped by around 13.57%. A total of 219 applications have been granted this week as compared to 254 in the previous week.
Early Publication
| City | This Week | Previous Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Mumbai | 3 | 25 | 88% decrease |
| Chennai | 11 | 3 | 72.72% increase |
| Kolkata | 6 | 2 | 66.66% increase |
| Total | 21 | 31 | 32.25% decrease |
PUBLICATION
| City | This Week | Previous Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 171 | 406 | 57.88% decrease |
| Mumbai | 38 | 42 | 9.52% decrease |
| Chennai | 72 | 72 | 0% |
| Kolkata | 9 | 206 | 95.63% decrease |
| Total | 290 | 726 | 60.05% decrease |
PUBLICATION UNDER GRANT
| City | This Week | Previous Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 110 | 133 | 17.29% decrease |
| Mumbai | 21 | 20 | 4.76% increase |
| Chennai | 61 | 56 | 8.19% increase |
| Kolkata | 27 | 45 | 40% decrease |
| Total | 219 | 254 | 13.77% decrease |
Patent Publications by City
This week, Delhi and Bangalore lead the table with respect to patent publications from a city with an equal 21 applications for both the cities. Mumbai comes in second with 12 applications, followed by Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata with 9, 7 and 4 publications respectively.
- Bangalore – 21
- Delhi – 21
- Mumbai – 12
- Chennai – 9
- Hyderabad – 7
- Kolkata – 4
Number of Applications published based on inventor city
Bangalore appears to be a hot bed for inventors with over 427 patent applications having been filed so far since the 1st of January this year. The number of patent applications from Bangalore based inventor’s tower over the number of patent applications filed collectively by inventors from Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad. Chennai comes in second on the table with around 151 applications having been made by the inventors from the city so far.
- Bengaluru: 427
- Chennai – 151
- Mumbai: 130
- Delhi: 119
- Kolkata: 42
- Hyderabad: 104
PCT Filing Statistics from India
A recent WIPO report has indicated that India has emerged as one among the top 15 origins which have shown a strong growth rate of PCT filings in 2016. According to the report, India filed 1,529 applications in 2016 compared to 1,412 applications in 2015. With an 8.3% increase in the PCT filings from India, China and India are the only two middle-income countries among the top 15 origins, the report has said. Despite India’s growth this year, China leads the tables with an extraordinary growth rate of 44.7%. Other countries with similar growth rates as India’s include Italy with 9.3%, Israel with 9.1% and the Netherlands with 8%.
Patent cases
Aurobindo Pharma wins patent case against Reckitt Benckiser
In a relief for the Hyderabad based pharma company – Aurbindo Pharma, the US district court of Delaware ruled in its favour in a patent infringement case relating to Mucinex DM, a drug patented by Reckitt Benckiser. In the ruling, the court stated that, “Having reviewed the record in the light most favorable to Reckitt, and drawing all reasonable inferences in Reckitt’s favor, the Court concludes that this circumstantial evidence does not provide an adequate basis on which a reasonable factfinder could find infringement.” Reckitt Benckiser had filed a patent infringement suit against Aurobindo Pharma Limited and its arm – Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc, which had submitted an abbreviated new drug application to market a generic version of Mucinex DM, commonly used in the treatment of cold and flu.
Other patent news & updates
Indira Nooyi led Pepsico granted patent for Beverage Preservative System
The American multinational food, snack and beverage corporation PepsiCo Inc. has been recently granted a patent for an invention titled “Beverage Preservative System Containing Pimaricin- Cyclodextrin Complex”. According to the patent, the invention provides a new beverage preservative system with improved sensory impact without benzoic acid and uses a less concentration of sorbic acid. Further, the system prevents spoilage in a beverage by micro organisms for a period of at least 16 weeks. The patent application number 1/MUMNP/2012 was filed at the Mumbai patent office in 2012 and was granted a patent on 16th March 2017 after satisfying the controller of the amendments made against the objections raised in the first examination report (FER) and the subsequent submissions during the hearing process.
Futuristic Patents
Amazon’s Delivery Drone Patents
Recently, USPTO granted two patents to Amazon with respect to drones for delivery. The drones have wings, legs and propellers. The drones can adjust their speed, flight pattern, landing based on surface, and detect obstructions.
When will these robots start delivering packages home?
Using your Friend’s Phone to Charge Yours
A recent patent application filed by Sony claims a method and system for wirelessly charging your phone using charge of another phone, or charged up device. The technology allows a charge seeker to search for devices with charge, send request and initiate charging. Charge can also be acquired from devices like microwaves, heaters, etc.
Patent Conferences, Seminars and learning
International Round Table on Evolving Jurisprudence on Patent Remedies
The Institute of Excellence on IPR and Standards, and Centre for Intellectual Property Rights and Advocacy (CIPRA) at the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru is hosting a two day International Round Table discussion on “Evolving Jurisprudence on Patent Remedies (PatRem)”. This round table is being conducted with the objective of assessing/reviewing emerging jurisprudence, practices, and changing landscape while shaping patent remedies in India. The roundtable also intends to bring together honorable members of the judiciary, enforcement agencies such as Competition Commission of India (CCI) and members of appellate boards such as IPAB to review this subject. The International Round Table would be held on the 25th and 26th of March 2017 at NLSIU, Bangalore.
WIPO launches Accessible Intellectual Property (IP) Courses
In a very welcome initiative, the World Intellectual Property Organization has recently made some of its courses accessible to persons with visual or print disability. Termed as “Accessible IP Courses”, the new service is being provided by the WIPO Academy to facilitate access to basic intellectual property (IP) knowledge for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled.
International Patent News
WIPO’s PCT Statistics
About two hundred and thirty three thousand PCT applications were filed in 2016, WIPO reported on 15th March, 2017. The total number of filings grew by about seven percent. US leads the pack followed by Japan and China. ZTe is the top filer followed by Huawei and Qualcomm. Digital technologies and computer technologies showed highest growth. PCT Filings from India increased by about eight percent.
Fighting Patent Trolls – BlockChain IP Council
About forty companies came together to form the BlockChain Intellectual Property Council to counter patent trolling and mitigate patent risks for genuine businesses. The Council seeks to strike a balance between blockchain open source and IP protection. Members of the Council include Blockstream, Civic, Bloq, Microsoft, etc.
Open Patent Licensing
Daimler Joins Open Invention Network
Mercedes Benz’s parent company, Daimler, has recently joined the open invention network. Members of the network get royalty free licenses to practice each other’s patents. Also, anyone can use the OIN’s patents provided they do not assert their patents against members.
Open Invention Network was formed to protect linux and affiliated open source technologies from patent risks, and its membership has been growing steadily.
BananaIP Patent Tip of the Week
Making money out of patents needs strategic thought and effort. The process does not start when you get a grant, it starts when an invention is conceived. Every step you take to protect the invention will impact the value you can generate from it one way or another.
Plan your patent life cycle carefully to maximize value from your patents.
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