Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions (CRIs) put on hold
Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions issued on 21-08-2015 (click here) are put on hold, in view of several representations received regarding interpretation and scope of section 3 (k) of the Patents Act 1970.
Earlier, only software used in combination with hardware could be patented, but the revised draft guidelines allowed the patenting of software which demonstrated technical advancement, for more details see our earlier blog post click here.
The order was put on hold after the representation from various organizations including software lobbies, mostly citing the ambiguity regarding the technical advancement clause.
2(1)(j) as “Invention” means a new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application. As per new section 2(1)(ja)2 “inventive step” means a feature of an invention that involves technical advance as compared to the existing knowledge or having economic significance or both and that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art.
Further, section 2(1)(ac)3 states that “capable of industrial application”, in relation to an invention, means that the invention is capable of being made or used in an industry.
The technical advancement clause may lead to all software being deemed patentable as it may be easy to demonstrate some sort of technical advancement.
For now, according to the latest order, this was put on hold till discussions with stakeholders are completed and contentious issues are resolved. For more clarity, we will have to wait for the next update from the IPO.
Latest order issued by IPO officeOrder_14December2015
Source: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INDIA, Office Order No. 70 of 2015.
