Sex toy patent fails to excite Indian Patent Office
The Indian Patent Office (IPO) has said that it cannot grant a patent covering a sexually stimulating device on the grounds that it is “immoral”.
The IPO’s decision, delivered in April last year, has only come to light this week.
Standard Innovation is the Canadian company behind the We-Vibe brand of sex toys. Since the We-Vibe brand was founded in 2003, more than two million units have been sold across 50 countries.
We-Vibe has become one of Canada’s largest producers of adult toys, which were even added into the gift bags given out at the Oscars in 2009.
The ergonomic design of We-Vibe products makes their design innovative, according to the company’s website.
Standard Innovation sought patent protection in India in 2007 for the design of its We-Vibe vibrator. The patent claimed “a sexual stimulation device” featuring an inner and outer arm, designed to be used by women during sexual intercourse.
However, the IPO found the patent application less than stimulating.
Under section 3(b) of India’s Patent Act, patent protection cannot be granted to items which are contrary to the public order or morality.
As the Indian Penal Code considers sex toys to be “obscene” goods that cannot be legally distributed and sold, they fall under this section of the Patent Act, the IPO said.
The IPO said the “dictionary meaning” of ‘obscene’ is “dealing with sexual manners in an offensive or disgusting way by accepted standards of morality and decency”.
In addition, article 377 of the Indian Penal Code “bans any sort of sexual intercourse that is termed to be unnatural biologically”, the IPO noted, and sex toys are therefore banned on the grounds that they lead to “moral deprivation”.
“The law views sex toys negatively and has never engaged positively with the notion of sexual pleasure,” the IPO said.
It added that sex toys are not considered “useful or productive”, but are rather “morally degrading”.
The IPO also held that We-Vibe’s claims are not novel, as “its distinguishing features depend on relative dimensions” based on the anatomy of users of the toy.
The office advised that an amended claim with additional technical features could enable the We-Vibe to meet the requirements of novelty and inventive step, though such edits would not address the “moral deprivation” objection.
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