India reveals Patents Amendment Rules
The Indian government has brought into force its Patents (Amendment) Rules 2016, a modification of its existing rules.
The amendments, which entered into force yesterday, May 16, follow the publication of draft rules published in November last year.
Changes include reducing the time taken for responding to an examination report/office action from 12 months to six months. An extension of up to three months is permitted for requests made before expiry of the six month period.
The rules will also now allow applicants to delete claims at the time of filing an application.
A ‘welcome provision’ has also been introduced allowing 90% of the official fee for a ‘request for examination’ to be refunded as long as the application has not been referred for examination. Another new provision allows official hearings to take place via video conferencing though hearings cannot be adjourned on more than two occasions.
The full set of rules can be viewed in full here.
WIPR reported yesterday that the Indian government approved its intellectual property rights policy, which promises to increase awareness of IP and enhance access to healthcare.
Already registered?
Login to your account
If you don't have a login or your access has expired, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content.
For more information on individual annual subscriptions for full paid access and corporate subscription options please contact us.
To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk