Patentable Subject Matter Archives

Monthly Roundup: Key IP Cases reported in March 2023

BananaIP Counsels has been following the recent developments in Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights, and Designs cases. This monthly roundup provides some insight into the developments made in these cases by various High Courts in India. The month of March saw an interesting mix of intellectual property decisions from courts in India. This post brings to you a list of important decisions relating to Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents, Consumer Protection and Accessibility Laws. We hope that this information helps our readers stay informed…

April 10, 2023 BananaIP Reporter Accessibility, Case Study, Copyrights, e-Commerce Law, Intellectual Property, Patents, Trademarks 0Comment 5530Views 0Like

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DNA of a Patent Search

Original Date of Publication: 17th May, 2010 A patent search, in simple words, is an exercise of mining granted patents and published patent applications (patent documents) that are related to a subject matter of our interest. A patent search helps in making decisions under various scenarios. It helps determine, patentability of a subject matter, freedom to operate and validity of a patent, among others. More often than not, a patent search is conducted to determine patentability of a subject matter for which…

May 20, 2019 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 952Views 0Like

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Once an Intermediate, Always an Intermediate

First Publication Date: 22nd December 2010 The other day, while I was having a heated discussion with 2 fellow bloggers about the patentability of repurposed drugs i.e. patenting of new use of a known drug, we hit a road block with regard to patent value of an intermediate. The question raised was "Will a newly found first use of an already known intermediate be patentable in India?" I am rephrasing the question for the purpose of this discussion. “Will the exclusion criterion elaborated…

December 26, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 1124Views 0Like

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This image depicts a DNA strand. The DNA forms the basis of all life forma and conquering it is the challenge for biotechnology. This post is about the patentability of biotech inventions. Click on the image to read the full post.

Biotechnology and Patent Challenge

First Publication Date: 19th December 2010 Since its inception, patent law has been customized and fine-tuned by governments to meet the needs of evolving technologies. Strong basic principles have evolved to cater to the needs of traditional fields of science and technology, and they have been working well in promoting progress. However, these basic principles have utterly failed in a number of ways when applied to Modern Biotechnology. The unique nature of Modern Biotechnology is the main reason for this failure. Why…

December 25, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 888Views 0Like

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Should Medical Methods Be Patented?

First Publication Date: 2nd October 2010 The patent system has played a critical role in promoting the progress of science and technology since its inception by providing incentives to invent, to disclose, to design around and to invest. These incentives encourage the progress of science and technology in turn contributing to the economic development and prosperity of mankind. Though the patent system has played a critical role in the progress of science generally, its benefits have not been extended to medical…

December 6, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 1672Views 0Like

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Complications In Patenting Biotech Inventions: A Peek At US Law

First Publication Date: 1st October 2010 Introduction Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the American constitution gives congress the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. In furtherance of the power granted to it by the constitution, the congress has enacted the Patent Law, which has been codified under Title 35 of the United States Code.…

December 6, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 1150Views 0Like

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Bilski’s Invention Falls, Business Methods Survive

First Publication Date: 29th June 2010 The much awaited Bilski decision has been pronounced by the US Supreme Court (Bilski v. Kappos). This closely watched and highly discussed case revolves around patentability of Bilski's hedging of risks business method invention. From the day when the patent examiner rejected Bilski's claims calling them 'mere manipulation of an abstract idea' the controversy has given rise to a lot of potent questions including the likes of patentability of software and business methods and restrictions…

December 3, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 911Views 0Like

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This image depicts a person in a yoga asana. His body has been divided into the traditional four zones targetted by yoga healing. This post explores if the way of performing yoga may be patented. Click on the image to read the full post.

Can a Method of Performing Yoga be Patented?

First Publication Date: 9th June 2010 The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has recently incorporated materials on yoga to the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). The materials include data on various yoga postures and videos relating to them. The information on yoga has been collected by CSIR from ancient Indian texts such as Patanjali. As per Dr. Gupta from CSIR, the addition of the materials to TKDL will play an important role in preventing patent grants relating to yoga…

November 30, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 1724Views 0Like

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Natural or Man Made

This post was first published on April 4, 2010. This is in furtherance of Mrs. Vinita Radhakrishnan's post regarding the US District Court decision on BRCA gene patents. Under the US Patent Law, anything that exists in nature is not patentable subject matter. This is also referred to as 'Product of Nature Doctrine'. The test for determining whether something exists in nature or not as laid down in Chakrabarty's case is whether a hand of man is involved in creating…

November 27, 2018 BananaIP Reporter Intellectual Property, Patents 0Comment 805Views 0Like

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Patenting a Food Recipe?

First Publication Date: 14th January 2010 Most of us, when we think about patents, we tend to associate patents with “high-tech” technological innovations. However, truth be told, sometimes patent protection can be easily extended to protect, as many may call, not so high-tech innovations as well. We had blogged earlier about, whether inventions related to method of massaging can be patented. A comment made on that blog post raises an interesting question, and is the focal point of this post. The question is:…