Indian Patent Office official booked over ‘bribes’
SP Subramaniyan, the deputy controller of patents and designs for the Indian Patent Office ( IPO) in Chennai, has allegedly been booked for demanding bribes.
Under Indian law, someone is booked when their arrest is written into official police records and they are fingerprinted and photographed.
According to The Times of India, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation booked Subramaniyan for “demanding” bribes from a private company to approve a patent.
Subramaniyan’s predecessor, TV Madhusudhan, was also booked for demanding bribes.
It was reported that Subramaniyan first asked for a bribe of Rs 3 lakh ($4,660) from the owner of a company to register a patent covering plaster mould.
The patent was reportedly initially filed in 2010 and then awarded once the bribe transaction took place.
After a post-grant opposition was filed against the patent, the two officials allegedly demanded a further bribe, this time of Rs 10 lakh ($15,500), to decide the case in the patent owner’s favour.
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