Lok Sabha Question No. 2199 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-01-01
Subject: Patent Applications
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: JANAK RAM

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY & PROMOTION

## LOK SABHA

## 2199.   SHRI JANAK RAM:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

वाणिज्य

## एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) the number of patent and trade mark related applications pending at present;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  taking  any  steps  to  expedite  the  disposal  of  the  said applications; and
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  time  by  which  the  said  applications  are  likely  to  be disposed of?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## वाणिज् यएवंउद्योग मंत्रालयमेंराज् यमंत्री(श्री सी.आर.चौधरी) (SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a): As  on  30.11.2017,  2,32,773  patent  applications  are  pending  at  various  stages  of disposal,  out  of  which  1,83,044  are  pending  at  the  examination  stage.  Also, 6,83,025  trade mark applications are pending at various stages of disposal, out of which 12,327 are pending at the pre-examination stage.
- (b) & (c): The  Government  has  taken  various  measures  to  clear  the  pending  applications, namely:
- (i) To  address  the  issue  of  lack  of  technical  manpower  for  examination  and disposal of patent and trade mark applications, available manpower has been augmented through creation of new posts and recruitment.
- (ii) Recruitment has been completed to 458 posts of Examiners of Patents and Designs.
- (iii) Further, 84 new posts of Examiners and 95 posts of Controllers have been sanctioned for Patent Office in the current year.
- (iv) The number of Examiners of Trade Marks and Geographical Indications has also  been  augmented  through  59  regular  and  84  contractual  Examiners. Also,  38  new  posts  of  Examiners  and  58  posts  of  hearing  officers  (Sr. Examiners and Registrars) have been approved for the trade mark registry this year.
- (v) IP  awareness  and  training  programmes  are  regularly  conducted  at  Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Intellectual Property Management (RGNIIPM) Nagpur.

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2199.

TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, THE 1 ST  JANUARY,  2018.

## PATENT APPLICATIONS

- (vi) Patent  Rules  have  been  amended  and  notified  on  16.05.2016  to  simplify procedures  for  disposal  of  patent  applications.    The  salient  amendments include:
- a) For the first time, refund of fees in certain cases has been permitted, as also withdrawal of application being permitted without any fees.
- b) Timelines have been imposed to ensure speedy disposal, while the number of admissible adjournments has been limited.
- c) Applications  can  be  transferred  electronically  from  any  of  the Patent  Office  branches  to  another,  utilizing  specialized  technical manpower more efficiently.
- d) Expedited Examination is now permitted on certain grounds.
- e) Hearing through video conferencing has been permitted.
- (vii) IPO website has been updated to make it more interactive, informative, userfriendly and transparent.
- (viii) In  order  to  facilitate  the  examination  work  and  optimise  the  speed  and quality of examination, number of IT-enabled measures have been implemented.
- (ix) The process of registration and renewal of Trade Marks has been automated by  uploading  the  registration  certificate  electronically  in  the  electronic register and dispatching the same to the applicant's registered email id.
- (x) A  'Pre-Hearing  Module'  has  been  devised  to  ensure  that  show-cause hearings  are  not  scheduled  except  in  cases  where  the  office  objections cannot be waived off on the basis of the reply submitted by the applicant and material available on record.
- (xi) The Government has notified the new Trade Mark Rules, 2017 on 6 th March, 2017 to streamline and simplify the processing of trade mark applications. Some  of  the  salient  features  of  the  new  Trade  Mark  Rules,  2017  are  as under:
- a) Number of Trade Mark (TM) Forms has been reduced from 74 to 8.
- b) To promote e-filing of trade mark applications, a 10% rebate is provided for e-filing of trade mark applications vis-à-vis physical filing.
- c) Modalities  for  determination  and  maintenance  of  well-known  Trade Marks have been introduced.
- d) The  provisions  relating  to  expedited  processing  of  an  application  for registration of a trade mark have been extended right up to registration stage (hitherto, it was only up to examination stage).
- e) Over all fees have been rationalized by reducing the number of entries in Schedule I from 88 to just 23.
- f) Hearing through video conferencing on request has been introduced.
- g) Number of adjournments in opposition proceedings has been restricted to a maximum of two by each party, which will help in timely disposal of matters.
- h) Procedures  relating  to  registration  as  Registered  User  of  Trade  Marks have also been simplified.

The  disposal  of  patent  and  trade  mark  applications  follows  a  chronological queuing system at various stages.  This  is  a  quasi-judicial  process  in  which  any person can file an opposition against the application. Therefore, no definite time line can be identified by which the said applications will be disposed of.

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