subject: Ipr Services From International Leading Law Firm India [print this page] Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations and innovations of human mind and such intangible properties are protected under certain laws of a country to exclude others from using it for limited period of time. The protection of the said intellectual property under a prescribed law required an expert to guide the innovators and the creators to protect their right. Intellectual property Law firms provide services to the innovators to protect their rights for the above discussed type of IP.
Among the legal services provided by the Intellectual property law firms patent services is one the most challenging and complicated one. Patent services include preliminary search, drafting, filing of patent application, prosecution, opposition & appeal, litigation, assignment & agreement, Patent watch, maintenance etc.
PCT filing is process of filing an application under Patent Cooperation Treaty. The application filed under PCT is known as international application, pct filing allows an applicant to designate all the countries under PCT by filing only one application. This process avoids cumbersome steps of filing in different country while saving both time and money. However, a PCT application should be followed by filing an application in the national phase level to get protection within a given time period. PCT provides just a platform for filing a patent and it does not have authority to grant a patent.
Patent registration procedure is different for every country. The patent registration process in India is prescribed under Patent Acts 1970 as amended in 2005. Under this act, patent search application can be filed as ordinary applications (provisional/complete specifications), conventional application and PCT national phase application. The patent application filed in the Patent Office is published after 18 months from the date of filing of the priority application. Pre-grant opposition can be filed by any person within 6 months from the date of publication. The application either may be rejected or proceed for further prosecution on the basis of the pre-granted opposition. The examination of the patent application is not an automatic process in India. The applicant or a third party has to apply for the examination of the patent application within 48 months from the priority date. The first examination report issued by the Controller is to be response within one year. If the response is accepted then notice of allowance is sent to the application along with the pending fees of issuance of patent. The application may also be rejected during the examination if the controller is not satisfied with the response. The patent is protected for a time period of 20 years subject to the payment of the renewal fee. Renewal fee is to be paid every year, failure to pay automatically lapse the patent.
Patent search refers to the search of the prior arts which includes patents, published patent applications and non-patent literature,
patent search is of many types as per the requirements of the prosecution and litigation proceedings. It may be preliminary search, novelty search, infringement search, equivalent search, FTO search.
Patent litigation refers to the legal proceeding in a court to determine and enforce legal rights of a patent. It can be between two or more parties in the court,
patent litigation involves a legal action against a third party who has accessed to the right of the patent owner without the permission, which is an act of patent infringement.
