Increased IP awareness and the consequent surge in the rate of patent filings have failed to deliver on the effectiveness quotient of IP enforcement in the market. This has necessitated thorough scrutiny by the Indian Patent Office (IPO) to deter applicants from getting a grant on inventions that might not be able to stand a trail in the Court of Law if its discussed. Therefore, drafting a patent application (specification) plays a crucial role in the success of an invention. From acceptance to infringement actions, the content and quality of the draft determine the fate of the invention. An inventor may know his invention well but might not be able to explain it in a manner compliant to the requirement of the patent office. In such a scenario, professional assistance from an experienced patent practitioner is sought and it is expected of them to understand the technical complexity of the invention at hand and have the desired foreseeability to help the invention survive the various tests. >>
Kaamya Ramanan Employment and Corporate Add a comment
The Hon’ble Supreme Court, in a recent judgement, answered the question of whether “special allowances” would fall within the expression “basic wages” for Provident Fund (PF) contribution in the affirmative. Interpreting the provisions of Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (“PF Act”) as a beneficial social welfare legislation, the Court affirmed the PF authorities’ factual conclusion that the allowances in question were essentially a part of the basic wage camouflaged as part of an allowance so as to avoid deduction and contribution to the provident fund account of the employees. In essence, the Court reiterated the principle laid down in prior rulings that where the wage is universally, necessarily and ordinarily paid to all across the board, such emoluments are basic wages and employers had to expressly prove the special treatment in the special allowance for it to be kept out of the purview of calculations for PF purposes.>>
A conducive intellectual property (IP) environment and facilitation of innovation ecosystem have furthered India’s ranking in international indices. Similarly, in the domestic scenario, increased awareness, expanding business incentives and administrative reforms have shown marked progress in the Indian IP regime. The Annual Report 2017-2018 which was recently released by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM)[i] establishes, through statistics, the improvement that the office has seen in the past year. Through this post, we look at the headway the office has made in its patent activity in the reported year.>>
Keerthi J S, Santosh Vikram Singh IPR Add a comment
The Start-up India initiative unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16th January 2016 is being applauded globally. It’s being seen not only as an initiative to create a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country but also as a way to create job opportunities, a critical ingredient of sustained economic growth. >>