Patents and patent information in 1979 and 2004: a perspective from India

Abstract

In a review of the patent and patent information scene in India over the last 25 years, the author highlights the key influences of the Indian Patents Act of 1970 and the accession of India to the PCT and WTO in the late 1990s. The impact of the restrictive nature of the former legislation, especially in the chemical, food, agrochemicals and pharmaceutical fields, as well as the more positive hopes for the future following the latter developments, are described. The author also outlines the current availability of Indian patent information, and also plans to provide this in more flexible, electronic forms in parallel with other moves for the Indian Patent Office to establish increasingly electronic filing and processing systems. Finally, the creation of an Indian traditional knowledge database and classification, and its expected benefit in patentability determinations, is referred to.