Indian Patent Office at New Delhi has refused to grant patent in an application titled ‘Method and device for controlling the position of the numbering wheels of a numbering device’. The Assistant Controller Patents & Designs was of the view that there was a contravention of Section 3(b) of the Patents Act, 1970 inasmuch as the primary or intended use or commercial exploitation of the invention, used in printing presses for carrying out numbering of printed documents, especially bank notes and the like securities, could be contrary to public order or morality.
The Patent office in the Matter of Patent Application No. 1375/DELNP/2009 noted that printing of bank notes is sensitive matter, is an area lawfully banned and is the prerogative of the State. The IPO refused to comment upon the patents granted in the related field.