STANDARD ESSENTIAL PATENTS

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Context: A potential crisis is emerging in India over how certain technology corporations use 'standard essential patents' (SEPs) against the telecom manufacturing sector, affecting India's efforts to develop a domestic cellular phone manufacturing business.

About Standard Essential Patents (SEPs)

• Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) are patents that cover technologies deemed essential for a particular industry standard. These standards define technical specifications to ensure compatibility and interoperability between products from different manufacturers.
• Often, large technology companies are at the forefront of developing these essential technologies and securing patents on them. Owning SEPs grants significant power. Since other manufacturers need licenses to use these technologies in their standard-compliant products, SEP owners can potentially influence the market.

Patents that are essential to a standard and have been adopted by a Standard Setting Organization (SSO) are known as SEPs. These patents are crucial for implementing the standard and ensuring interoperability among products and services in a particular industry. When a patent is designated as a SEP by an SSO, manufacturers must acquire a license under the SEP to produce goods that comply with the standard.

Patent

• A patent is an exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor or assignee for a limited period in exchange for public disclosure of an invention.
• It provides the patent holder with the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing the patented invention without their permission. In essence, a patent protects new inventions or discoveries that offer a new way of doing something or provide a technical solution to a problem.

Indian Patent Office ●The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), commonly referred to as the Indian Patent Office, operates under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). It is responsible for administering and implementing the Indian laws related to patents, designs, and trademarks. ●The Indian Patent Office grants and administers patents for inventions based on the Indian Patents Act, 1970. Patents protect new and inventive products or processes, granting exclusive rights to the inventor for a limited period. ●The office deals with the registration and protection of industrial designs under the Designs Act, 2000. Industrial designs refer to the aesthetic aspects of articles or products, and registration provides exclusive rights to use the design. ●It oversees the registration and protection of trademarks and service marks under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. Trademarks are distinctive signs (like logos or words) used to identify and distinguish goods or services of one party from others.

Key points about patents

• A patent grants the holder exclusive rights to use the invention commercially for a limited period (typically 20 years from the filing date of the application).
• In exchange for the exclusive rights, the patent holder must disclose technical information about the invention in a patent application. This disclosure enables others to understand and potentially build upon the invention after the patent expires.
• Patents can cover a wide range of inventions, including products, processes, methods, compositions of matter, or improvements thereof.
• Once a patent expires, the invention enters the public domain, allowing others to freely use, make, and sell the invention without infringing on any intellectual property rights.
• Patents are territorial, meaning they are only enforceable within the jurisdiction where they are granted. However, international treaties (such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty) facilitate the process of seeking patent protection in multiple countries.

Conclusion

• A patent represents a legal right that encourages innovation by providing inventors with the opportunity to benefit from their inventions while ensuring that technical knowledge is shared with the public to promote further technological progress.

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Source:

The Hindu

Mondaq

PRACTICE QUESTION Q. While patents grant inventors exclusive rights, excessive patenting can stifle competition.  Discuss the potential for anti-competitive practices arising from the Indian patent system, and how these concerns can be balanced with the need to promote innovation.