The government is taking measures to reduce the time to examine patent applications for clearing them at the earliest, Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) measures said.
“Now the time is between 5 and 7 years for the first examination of patent applications. The target is to bring it down to 18 months, which I am told is the benchmark in the U.S. for the first examination after the applications are filed. That is the target we have set for ourselves by March 2018,” Abhishek said at a FICCI event. DIPP is the nodal agency for most Intellectual Property issues including patents.
The examination time will gradually come down as the government will be setting a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and an annual benchmark. In addition to the existing strength of 130 examiners of patents and designs, the government recently hired 458 new examiners, Mr. Abhishek said. An additional 263 examiners will soon be recruited on a contract basis.
Also, online examination has begun to reduce pendency. The government has already hired around 100 new examiners for trademarks. Examination time for trademarks has been reduced from 13 months to 8 months, he said, adding that the new target is to bring this time down to one month by March 2017. The pendency in patent applications and trademark registration as on February 1, 2016 was around 2.37 lakh and 5.44 lakh respectively. One of the main reasons for this situation was shortage of manpower, he said. On patentability of computer-related inventions, Mr. Abhishek said a panel will give its report on it after April 30. Abhishek also said the patent rules are being amended to fast-track examination for patents by start-ups. The government has appointed a panel of around 80 lawyers to ensure free consultation to start-ups.
Published - April 26, 2016 12:18 am IST
