Legislative Changes required in Indian Patents Act

The Patent law in India is governed by the provisions specified in the Patents Act, 1970, hereinafter “The Patents Act”. The aforementioned provisions are further supplemented by the Patent Rules, 2003, hereinafter “The Patent Rules”, and various guiding publications, such as the Manual of Patent Office Practice and Procedures, patent examination guidelines, and other relevant publications. For reasons such as compliance to international agreements and treaties, the omission of outdated laws, changes in internal regulations, uniformity to global practices and requirements, and the emergence of new technologies and their impact in our everyday lives, the aforementioned guiding publications relating to the Patent law are updated from time to time. Reflecting on the legislative reforms and amendments in the Indian Patent law, The Patents Act was last amended in 2005. Since then, The Patent Rules have been amended multiple times, the manual has been periodically updated, and the patent examination guidelines for various technical areas have also been issued and revised from time to time. All such efforts to streamline the overall patent ecosystem within the purview of the existing Patents Act have been largely appreciated by most of the stakeholders. However, there exists a long-felt need to make changes in certain provisions of The Patents Act itself. Some prevalent issues with The Patents Act are discussed in this article.