“Indian patent statistics, Interesting Inventions, Invitations for National Intellectual Property Awards 2019, SEVEN Networks and Google settle a patent infringement suit, out of court, Apple accused of infringing Bluetooth related patents, Problems galore for USPTO, Japanese Patent Law may allow Plaintiff to cease infringed goods and other Weekly Patent News updates” presented by the Patent attorneys and experts of BananaIP Counsels, India’s leading Patent Firm.
Quote of the Week
“Understanding the important issues and working out how best to communicate them to clients, is the key to IP due diligence.” – Justin Watts, Distinguished Patent Litigator.
Indian Patent Statistics
A total of 649 patent applications have been published in the 4th issue of the Patent Journal, 2019. Out of the 649 applications, 137 applications account for early publications while 512 applications account for ordinary publications or publications occurring after the 18-month period. A total of 373 applications have been granted this week marking an increase of about 20.71%.
Early Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 10 | 10 | No Change |
| Mumbai | 28 | 71 | 153.57% increase |
| Chennai | 27 | 50 | 85.19% increase |
| Kolkata | 8 | 6 | 25% decrease |
| Total | 75 | 137 | 82.67% increase |
Ordinary Publications
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 466 | 334 | 28.33% decrease |
| Mumbai | 88 | 62 | 29.55% decrease |
| Chennai | 220 | 104 | 52.73% increase |
| Kolkata | 121 | 12 | 90.08% decrease |
| Total | 895 | 512 | 42.79% decrease |
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (Previous Week): 970
TOTAL PUBLICATIONS (This Week): 649
Percentage difference: 33.09% decrease
First Examination Report (FER) Statistics
A total 1853 FER’s have been issued last week. Applicants and their agents can check if any of their patent applications have been examined by referring to the journal available here.
| City | No. of FER Issued |
| Delhi | 726 |
| Mumbai | 287 |
| Chennai | 553 |
| Kolkata | 287 |
| Total | 1853 |
PUBLICATIONS UNDER GRANT
| City | Previous Week | This Week | Percentage of change |
| Delhi | 137 | 140 | 2.18% increase |
| Mumbai | 39 | 45 | 15.38% increase |
| Chennai | 91 | 133 | 46.15% increase |
| Kolkata | 42 | 55 | 30.95% increase |
| Total | 309 | 373 | 20.71% increase |
Number of Applications published based on applicant city
Of the total 649 patent applications published in the journal last week, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata have contributed a total of 150 applications. The total applications from each of the previously mentioned cities are as follows – 31 applications from Chennai, 56 applications from Bangalore, 18 applications from Delhi, 11 applications from Hyderabad, 26 applications from Mumbai and 8 applications from Kolkata.
| List of Cities | 1st January 2019 – 25th January 2019 | 19th January 2019 – 25th January 2019 |
| Delhi | 58 | 18 |
| Mumbai | 46 | 26 |
| Bangalore | 117 | 56 |
| Chennai | 212 | 31 |
| Hyderabad | 36 | 11 |
| Kolkata | 14 | 8 |
Total number of applications published by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2019 till date: 3181
- Early publications: 312
- Ordinary Publications: 2869
Total number of patents granted by the Indian Patent Office from the 1st of January 2019 till date: 1162
- Delhi – 410
- Mumbai – 134
- Chennai – 408
- Kolkata – 207
Indian Industrial Designs Statistics
The designs office has registered a total of 415 designs this week. The total designs registered from the 1st of January 2019 till date now adds to a total of 893 applications.
Total designs registered in the previous Week: 199
Total designs registered this Week: 415
Percentage Difference: 108.54% increase
Total designs registered from the 1st of January 2019 till date: 893
Interesting Inventions of the Week
Invention 1 – AUTOMATIC CONTROLLED CLEANING OF ROAD BY WATER THROUGH ROAD STUD
Patent Application No.: 201821046260
Applicant: Parth Joshi et. al
Abstract: “Present Road are the life line of nation as trade, communication and everyday activities are carried on through these. So maintenance and cleaning of road is must be important in city, but because of huge traffic on road in cities it is almost impossible to clean the road by worker. The main objective of the invention is to clean the road with the help of road studs by using automated controlled system of spraying and suction, which is embedded in the water distribution system. The design of conventional road stud is modified to include the pipes for spraying and suction of water. The road stud is connected to main water tank by underground water pipes. The mechanism is directed to clean all the dirt from the road and suck it back thereby leaving no trace of congested water on any part of the road. The road stud was fixed at interval of few meter and the suction stud are fixed at centre of two releasing stud on opposite direction. The invention is also used to reduce the obstruction of traffic flow during cleansing of the road as it does not involve any human operated dynamic machine. The invention also provides a proper drainage of the used water in order to prevent the problem of water logging.” (The abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors)
Invention 2 – HUMAN COMPANION USING ARDUINO CONTROLLER
Patent Application No.: 201741025791
Applicant: P. RAJARAJESWARI
Abstract: “The human companion is an automated robot which follows the owner wherever he goes and as well as help him in carrying his load. The owner of the companion is given a GPS module with an unique id such that no other GPS device can interfere with the operation of the companion. This robot works by the principle of GPS guidance. A GPS transmitter from the owner transmits the co-ordinates of the owner continuously and the companion receives the GPS data and moves itself according to the position of the owner. The companion is also fitted with Infrared sensors to detect any obstructions and edges and hence can follow the owner without the trouble of getting stuck between obstacles.” (The abstract has been provided as is and has not been corrected for errors)
Indian Patent Updates
National Intellectual Property Awards 2019
The Office of the CGPDTM (Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks has invited nominations for National Intellectual Property (IP) Awards. The awards will be presented to the awardees at an event in Delhi organized by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) coinciding with World IP Day which falls on 26th April.
Categories of IP Awards (Patents, Trademarks & Design)
- Top Individual for Patents & Commercialization
- Top Indian Academic institution for Patents & Commercialization
- Top R & D institution/organisation for Patents & Commercialization
- Top Public Limited Company / Private Limited Company for Patents & Commercialization in India. (Separate awards for Indian and Foreign Companies)
- Top Indian Private Company (MSME) for Patents & Commercialization
- Top Start-up for IP Commercialization
- Top Indian Company /Organization for Designs
- Top Indian Company for creating Global brand
- Top Individual / organization for Best facilitation of Registration of GI and Promotion of registered GI in India
- Best Police Unit (District / zone in a commissionarate) for enforcement of IP in the Country
Each award will carry a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/- and citation. In addition to the above Awards given annually by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) under the WIPO Awards Program will be linked to the appropriate categories of National IP Awards 2019. To access the official notification and know more, click here. To view and download the forms, click here.
Patent / Design Infringements, Disputes, Licensing and Settlement
SEVEN Networks and Google opt for out of court settlement
SEVEN Networks, a software solutions company had filed a suit against Google Inc and Samsung Co. Ltd for infringing its patent, back in 2017. The patent related to an invention that effectively managed mobile traffic thereby preserving the consumption of network and battery in a device. Samsung was later dropped as a party to the dispute after both the companies reached a settlement involving some consideration. In a repeat of the Samsung situation, Google and SEVEN Networks have now jointly filed a motion to stay further proceeding on the basis that they have reached an agreement to settle the matter. The District Judge, Rodney Gilstrap has now granted the companies a period of 30 days to finalize the terms of the settlement.
Apple accused of infringing Bluetooth related patents
A Pennsylvania-based entity called Rembrandt Wireless Technologies has filed a suit against Apple in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, accusing the iPhone manufacturer of infringing on two of the company’s patents. The patents 8,023,580 and 8,457,228, both titled “System and method of communication using at least two modulation methods,” relate to how communications between two devices can be performed using two or more different modulation methods, potentially improving the speed of communication.
As reported by Apple insider “The complaint claims all products produced by Apple that supports Bluetooth 2.0 or later and Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) are targets for the lawsuit, including almost all iPhone models, iPad Pro, iPads, Macs, HomePod, and items under the Beats brand.”
Rembrandt’s previous victories against Samsung and Blackberry do not sound like good news for Apple.
International Patent Updates
Problems galore for USPTO
On 24th January, 2019, the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO) released a notification explaining that the Office did not have any means on hand to access any funds received after 22nd December, 2018. Due to the disagreement between the United States Congress and President, Donald Trump, the Appropriations Bill has not been passed, leading nine Federal Government Agencies without funds for the year 2019.
The USPTO announcement said that the Office is currently running on reserve funds. According to a rough estimate, the current funds will allow the patent operations to run smoothly until the second week February, 2019. Further, the USPTO explained that all measures were being taken to extend its functions for the farthest period possible.
However, on 25th January, another update by the Office read “The USPTO is back to normal operating status.” Click here, to access the notification on the official USPTO website.
Japanese Patent Law may allow Plaintiff to cease infringed goods
Policy makers in Japan are reportedly working to bring a change in the patent system of the country by facilitating a change that permits a Plaintiff who is a party to a patent infringement suit, to raid the premises of the Defendant and cease infringing goods.
According to the current legal framework in Japan, a Defendant can be ordered to turn over all documents and goods related to the infringed patent. However, there is no provision that enables the Plaintiff to enter the premises of the manufacturing site and cease the same. Currently, countries like USA and UK, have a system in place that allows them to do so.
Compiled by Vibha Amarnath & Gaurav Mishra
About 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;
