MUMBAI, INDIA - An interactive meeting on Patent Cooperation Treaty was organized by World Trade Centre Mumbai in association with the All India Association of Industries on June 2, 2017 at the World Trade Centre Mumbai. Mr. O. P. Gupta, IAS, Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, Mumbai delivered the keynote address. He said, “I encourage micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to be more creative and more innovative by reaping the benefits of latest improvement in India’s patent system. The system is at par with the developed economies. From May 16, 2016, Government of India introduced a scheme of ‘Expedited Examination’ for start-up enterprises under which patent application can be examined immediately. In case of trademarks, the trade mark registry takes up the application for examination within 30 days, which is far lower than 6 months in Japan and 3 months in USA.

Mr. Gupta also mentioned that the patent office has recently recruited 458 patent examiners to reduce the pendency of application examination. With the induction of additional manpower, the patent office plans to reduce backlog of applications to 12-18 months, from the present norms of 5-6 years (depending on technology). India’s Patent Office received 46,000 patent applications last year, of which 14,000 were from Indian applicants. The percentage of applications filed by Indians has been growing year after year, Mr. Gupta added.

Mr. Vijay Doye, Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs, Mumbai, in his presentation encouraged MSMEs and individual inventors to file patent application under Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) if they wish to protect their invention in multiple countries. “PCT is an international filing system for patents across 152 contracting countries including India. Filing PCT international application has several advantages over traditional Paris Convention route. Some of the advantages of the PCT are increased availability of time to decide on patentability, availability of international search reports and written opinion on patentability and simplified formality requirements, among others. The number of annual PCT applications with India as a receiving office has increased to 753 in 2016-17 from 684 in the previous year.” Mr. Doye also advised MSMEs and individual inventors to file application online through e-PCT, instead of paper mode, to get reduction in international filing fee.

Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai said, “Innovation is the order of the day. Whoever creates innovation must get protection through patent system. As such, Patent Co-operation Treaty is a very useful to protect invention, especially for small and medium enterprises. India’s Patent Office must set up a cell to guide MSMEs on the procedures for filing patents. The cell must also create awareness about patenting among small and medium enterprises.”

In photo: Mr. Vijay Kalantri (left) felicitating Mr. O. P. Gupta (Centre). Also seen is Mr. Y. R. Warerkar.