Patent application details now available online

Patent application details are available online for free from this week. This was the first step by Indian Patent Office, which plans to provide the entire patent examination details — including the notes and observations made by the examiners — of granted patents online within a year.

Till now, only the titles of the patent applications were freely available, and interested parties had to apply separately, by paying Rs 500, for a copy of the details of the application. The application details and the observations made by the examiners are not in the public domain.

The initiative would help researchers to work out their intellectual property strategies faster and cheaper and enhance the transparency of application process in a big way.

Patent experts said the move would save time and money, as ‘titles’ were most often unclear and interested parties ended up paying for the details of several applications which were of no relevance to them. Pre-grant oppositions to patent applications are filed after studying such details.

According to P H Kurien, controller general of patents, designs and trademarks, the decision is part of the ongoing transparency drive of the Patent Office and aims at the speedy dissemination of patent information to public.

According to Indian patent rules, all applications are kept secret up to 18 months from the date of filing or priority date whichever is earlier and thereafter, they are published in the official journal of IPO, published every week, and also available on the IPO website. After its publication, public can inspect the documents and also access a copy after paying the fee.

Kurien said the fees would still be there for people who might need a certified copy of the patent application. The plans to make the details of patent grants online will materialise, once the patent office moves into e-examination of patent applications.