Article
Section 59 of the Patents Act, 1970 – Scope of amendments
Amendments of patent applications may involve amending any portion of either the complete specification, or any information pertaining to such patent application. Such amendments may be made at any time during life cycle of a patent application. Article in this issue of IPR Amicus notes that even though certain amendments are made (say by way of correction), the permissibility of the amendments has to be assessed vis-à-vis the conditions laid down in the second part of Section 59, and that various conditions in said section have to be read as a whole. According to the author, while amendments should be done through the permissible ways as provided in Section 59, they should also not bring in new subject matter or widen the scope of the originally filed application....
Ratio Decidendi
- Mere addition of suffix or prefix to a mark does not remove likelihood of confusion – Karnataka High Court
- No claim of exclusivity lies by use of mark similar to registered trademark as descriptive word – Delhi High Court
- Shape marks serving as indication of origin – UK Royal Court of Justice
News Nuggets
- Indian Patent office commences SMS alert facility for patent applications
- WIPO releases World Intellectual Property Report 2017
