On Thursday, the Center said that the Patents Rules, 2003, have been amended to include educational institutions in the reduced cost for patent application and prosecution. On September 21, the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2021, went into force. The Centre announced that the fees had been slashed by 80%, citing the importance of educational establishments in the country’s creativity.
It went on to say that this would create a favorable atmosphere for innovation. According to the government, as a consequence of these efforts, the time it takes to examine patents has decreased from an average of 72 months in 2015 to 12-30 months now, depending on the technical sectors.
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According to the release, the Department for Promotion of Business and Internal Trade has been striving to promote more collaboration between industry and academics, which may be accomplished through allowing the commercialization of research conducted in educational institutions.
It went on to list the Department’s measures, which included hiring new examiners, making the process of applying for and granting patents entirely online, hearing patent cases via video-conferencing for fast and contact-free proceedings, dynamic website redesigning, and real-time, hassle-free dissemination of IP information to stakeholders.
The regulation changes will make the procedures more compact, time-bound, user-friendly, and e-transaction compliant. The government also announced the creation of a complaints system for concerns relating to the operation of intellectual property offices.
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According to the government, due to these efforts, the time it takes to examine patents has decreased from an average of 72 months in 2015 to 12-30 months now, depending on the technical sectors.
