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Law of Patents in India

LL.M. · 17 topics in 5 units

Past question papers for Law of Patents in India

Unit I 4 topics

  1. Inventions, Patents and Socio-Economic GrowthWhy inventions matter to technological and economic growth, how the patent system claims to promote them (incentive, disclosure, diffusion), the evidence and the critiques, India's own experience from the Ayyangar Report to the 2005 product-patent regime, and the policy tools that tie patents to national development.5 min
  2. The Patents Act, 1970: Salient Features and the TRIPS AmendmentsThe history of Indian patent law, the salient features of the 1970 Act as enacted, the TRIPS obligations, the three amendments of 1999, 2002 and 2005 with what each changed, the WTO mailbox dispute, and the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024.6 min
  3. The Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation TreatyHow the Paris Convention (national treatment, priority, independence, Article 5A) and the PCT (international application, search, publication, preliminary examination, national phase) built the international patent system, how India implements both, and the later treaties and harmonisation efforts.5 min
  4. History of Patent Law, Invention and Discovery, and the Justifications for PatentsThe basic requirements of a patent in outline, the international history from Venice and the Statute of Monopolies to TRIPS, the Indian history from 1856, the distinction between invention, discovery and patent, and the theoretical justifications for patent protection with their critiques.7 min

Unit II 3 topics

  1. Patentability: Novelty, Inventive Step and Industrial Application in India, the UK and the USThe basic requirements of patent protection in India (invention, novelty, inventive step, industrial application, not excluded by sections 3 and 4) with Biswanath Prasad, compared with the UK Patents Act 1977 and EPC (Windsurfing, Pozzoli, Synthon) and US law under 35 U.S.C. sections 101 to 103 (Graham, KSR, the AIA).7 min
  2. What Are Not Inventions: Section 3, Section 4 and Computer-Related InventionsThe clauses of section 3 grouped by rationale, with the leading cases on discoveries and living matter (Dimminaco, Monsanto), methods of treatment and agriculture, section 3(j) and biotechnology, section 3(k) and computer-related inventions (Ferid Allani and the CRI Guidelines) compared with Alice in the US and Aerotel and the EPO, and section 4 on atomic energy.7 min
  3. Section 3(d) and Novartis v Union of India: Case AnalysisThe text and purpose of section 3(d), evergreening, the Glivec litigation from the mailbox application through the Madras High Court and IPAB to the Supreme Court in 2013, the holdings on efficacy, bioavailability and coverage versus disclosure, TRIPS compatibility, and the later case law and critique.6 min

Unit III 4 topics

  1. Provisional and Complete Specification, Filing and ExaminationThe function of the specification in the patent bargain, provisional and complete specifications under sections 9 and 10, sufficiency, best method, claims and fair basis, priority dates, amendment, and the path from application to grant including publication, request for examination and the 2024 Rules, with UK and US comparisons.6 min
  2. Pre-Grant and Post-Grant OppositionThe dual opposition system of section 25, who may oppose, the eleven grounds, procedure before the Controller and the Opposition Board, the 2024 Rules, the leading cases on natural justice and the relation between opposition, revocation and counter-claims, and comparison with EPO opposition and US post-grant review.5 min
  3. Powers of the Controller under the Patents Act, 1970The Controller General and the patent offices, the Controller's civil-court powers under section 77, discretionary powers and the duty to hear under section 80, powers during examination, opposition, amendment, restoration and surrender, compulsory licensing and revocation powers, secrecy, information and register powers, the quasi-judicial character of the office and appeals to the High Court.7 min
  4. Patents of Addition, Grant, Term and Transfer of Patent RightsPatents of addition under sections 54 to 56, grant under the seal of the office (formerly sealing), the date and twenty-year term of a patent, renewal fees, lapse and restoration, and the transfer of patent rights by assignment, licence, mortgage and transmission under sections 68 to 70, with co-ownership and comparative notes.7 min

Unit IV 3 topics

  1. Rights and Obligations of the PatenteeThe exclusive rights under section 48 for products and processes, the rights to assign, license, surrender and sue, the conditions and limits on those rights (section 47, Bolar, parallel imports and exhaustion, government use, foreign vessels), and the patentee's obligations: disclosure, working and Form 27 statements, renewal fees, registration of transactions and lawful licensing.5 min
  2. Compulsory Licensing and Government Use: Natco v BayerThe international basis (Paris Article 5A, TRIPS Article 31, Doha and Article 31bis), the three grounds under section 84, the factors and procedure, licences on notification under section 92, export licences under section 92A, government use and acquisition, Natco v Bayer from the Controller to the Bombay High Court, the rejected applications that followed, COVID-19, and comparisons.8 min
  3. Revocation of PatentsEvery route to revoking a patent in India: post-grant opposition, revocation petitions and counter-claims under section 64 with its seventeen grounds, revocation by the Controller for non-working and atomic energy, revocation in the public interest under section 66, surrender, and the forum after the abolition of the IPAB, with Biswanath, Wobben and a critical evaluation.6 min

Unit V 3 topics

  1. Patent Infringement, Defences and RemediesWhat infringes (literal, purposive construction and equivalents), who may sue and where, the burden of proof for process patents, defences including invalidity, Bolar and parallel imports, interim injunctions after Wander v Antox and the Roche v Cipla public interest debate, final remedies, damages and account of profits, groundless threats, offences, and the US and UK positions after eBay and Actavis.7 min
  2. Standard Essential Patents and FRAND LicensingWhat standards and standard essential patents are, the FRAND commitment, hold-up and hold-out, the EU framework in Huawei v ZTE, the UK global-licence approach in Unwired Planet, US practice, Indian SEP litigation in the Delhi High Court from Ericsson v Micromax and Intex to Ericsson v Lava (2024), pro-tem security, and the Patents Act versus Competition Act question after Ericsson v CCI (2023).6 min
  3. TRIPS Patent Provisions, the Patent Law Treaty, the SPLT and the Budapest TreatyThe patent provisions of TRIPS (Articles 27 to 34 with Articles 7, 8, 39, 40, 65, 70 and 31bis), the WIPO Patent Law Treaty 2000 on formalities, the stalled draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty, and the Budapest Treaty 1977 on deposit of micro-organisms, with India's position on each.7 min