Pursuant to the publication of the draft Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2018 for objections/suggestions from the stakeholders in December 2018, the Central Government has now notified the coming into effect of the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2019.

By way of this amendment, notable changes have been made to the existing rules. The most significant change rendered is with regard to the expansion in scope of the rule pertaining to expedited examination of applications (Rule 24-C) and the corresponding statutory form, 18A. A request for expedited examination of a patent application can now be filed by, inter alia, a small entity, female applicants and department(s) of the Government.

Another significant change pertains to the relaxation provided to PCT applicants who will no longer be required to pay transmittal fee for filing PCT applications, if filings are made through ePCT.

The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2019 can be accessed at http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/News/569_1_The_Patent_Amendment_Rules_2019_.pdf

Draft Rules to amend the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Rules, 2002 were published on September 12, 2019. Objections and suggestions are invited from the public on the Draft Rules until October 11, 2019.  

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DIPP) has published its “Draft Model Guidelines on Implementation of IPR Policy for Academic Institutions” under the “Creative India; Innovative India” scheme.

The guidelines have been prepared by Cell for IPR Promotion & Management (CIPAM) and are based on the “Guidelines on Developing Intellectual Property Policy for Universities and R&D Organizations, WIPO, Geneva”. The guidelines also borrow from intellectual property policies of other universities published on WIPO.

The objectives of the guidelines are, inter alia, to provide a framework to foster innovation and creativity in an ethical environment and to protect IP rights generated by faculty/students of an academic institution.

The Copyright Office has, vide public notice dated August 27, 2019, reiterated that there is no requirement to obtain a license to use any sound recordings played in “a marriage procession and other social festivities associated with a marriage”.

In the trade marks journal published on August 19, 2019, the mark “INDIA GATE” (in reference to food grains and allied products) has been notified as a well-known mark.