Friday, April 9, 2010

One Gargantuan Step after Another

The shackles (of bureaucracy?) have begun to rust and give way with the cutting edge sword, within the precincts of the Intellectual Property Rights Office, i.e. the Patent and Trademark Office’s physical and virtual presence, borne by the Controller General of Trade Marks, Patents, and Designs i.e. Mr. A. Kurian. Dusts off the files have been swept away, and the confidentiality that ought to be kept and the speediness that ought to have been sought, has been implemented in one gargantuan step after another.

Rapid developments swept Patent Examiners and the Administrative Staff at the Patent Office, particularly, at Mumbai, by Mr. Kurian’s physical presence and random checks on the ‘deals’ at the Patent Office. The steps that inducted this new wind of change were as follows:

1) No persons, other than the Registered Patent Agents, are allowed to enter the restricted premises of the Patent Office building. Even a Registered Patent agent shall be present only if his presence is summoned by virtue of an official call or hearing by an Examiner or an Assistant Controller or Controller or the like authorities.
2) Examiners, Assistant Controller, Controllers shall not mingle with the Agents and Applicants / Inventors. Their absence from the building, even during lunch hours, will be strictly monitored.
3) The Controller General has issued a public notice to all applicants/patent agents to inform the patent office about the non receipt of First examination reports in respect of RQs (Request for Examination) filed prior to 31-12-2006
http://www.patentoffice.nic.in/iponew/publicNotice_09March2010.pdf
4) Public Notice regarding Geographical Indications Journal
http://www.patentoffice.nic.in/girindia/GIR_PublicNotice_26February2010.pdf
5) Application Status Search has been launched by Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks for Indian Patent Applications under IPIRS in the Public Search Gateway (MUST EXPLORE)
http://www.patentoffice.nic.in/ipirs/patentsearch.htm
6) The controller General has issued public notice to the patentee and licencees to furnish the information in the prescribed form regarding working of patent under section 146 of the Patents Act 1970, by 31st March 2010
7) Regarding inspection, increased transparency has been sought, by providing amended copies, which were earlier declined to be given
http://ipindia.nic.in/iponew/office_order01_12January2010.pdf
8) All patent applications have been distributed for examination into four groups:
i) Chemistry and Allied Sciences
ii) Biotechnology and Microbiology
iii) Mechanical and Allied Subjects
iv) Electrical, Electronic and Allied Subjects
9) According to another order, every patent application will be strictly classified according to the International Patent Classification (IPC), and the screening will be according to the Technical Fields of the IPC.
http://www.patentoffice.nic.in/officeCircular/circular08_18May2009.pdf
10) Balancing of officers was carried out in respect of several officers, by way of transfers.
http://www.patentoffice.nic.in/OfficeCircular/TransferOfficeOrder_05May2009.pdf

What has been a campaign of sorts in order to emulate the transparency procedures of many nations which handle a great deal of filings, and the efforts to weed out the discrepancies are now being tackled. These and such rapid developments over the last year, have not only brought a sigh of relief amongst the patent practitioners, but also the cross-hairs of such deeds will targeted to benefit an Applicant and Inventor so that they trust the system.