Informatics Publishing Limited

Soumya Prakash Patra ¹, K. D. Raju ¹

Affiliations
1 Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721 302, IN

Abstract

With the increased awareness and focus on safety systems in the automotive domain, it is imperative for regulatory authorities to not only bring in the latest technologies but also ensure reachability and affordability for all. However, the patents related to the latest safety features concentrate in the hands of a few technology leaders, thus rendering the technology access costly and scarce. In such a scenario, adapting principles of SEPs and their permit of use in FRAND conditions as in the telecom domain would create a symbiotic relationship between the technology producers and end-users. The first part of this paper deals with studying the relevant patent filing activities to sensitize the innovation happing in the field of automotive engineering in general and automotive safety in particular. The second part focuses on standards and its establishment process in India and its global context in terms of harmonization. The third part deals with the gap in the operation of Indian Standard establishing authorities and the Indian Patent system. This paper concludes by arguing that it is essential to adopt a cross-functional team to horizontally utilize the best of learnings of the telecom domain in terms of licensing SEPs under FRAND terms.

Keywords

Standards, Standard Essential Patent, Automotive Standards, Automotive Patents, FRAND, Licensing, SEP, Agreement on Technical Barriers of Trade, Standard Setting Organisations.

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Soumya Prakash Patra ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Commerce and Management, St Xavier University, Kolkata — 700 160, West Bengal,, IN

Abstract

There has been a constant resonance on the legality of mentioning artificial computing entity as an inventor the world over. There have been various instances of judicial decisions with an elaborate commentary on the legality of a robot or AI becoming the inventor of a patent. Considering the legal implications of AI being the inventors of inventions through identifying gaps by analysing tonnes of information through various big data analysing means, a new policy framework is necessitated. However, the big question that arises is, should the development of such inventions and their consequent patenting should be disallowed as the recent judgments have been made, or should there be regulations on inventorship of such patents and their resulting ownership. The present article attempts to give a prognosis for adapting a new legal viewpoint for considering the AI as an inventor rather than just rejecting them.

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Soumya Prakash Patra ¹, Priyadarshini Singh ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Commerce and Management, St. Xavier University, Kolkata — 700 160, West Bengal,, IN
2 Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur- 721 302, West Bengal,, IN

Abstract

Consumers perceive trademarks as commodities due to their exceptional quality attached to the brand. Consistency is established when customers purchase a specific brand, and its appearance is an additional driving factor for such a purchase. Due to this emerging understanding, both in the US and in Europe, there is acceptance of the fact that financial concepts for trademark reasoning are insufficient to reflect the present-day functions of trademarks accurately. Trademark’s functions have been restructured over the past few decades, which correspond to trademark evolution and expansion of consumer-centric society on the other hand. Given the non-traditional business reality, it is not, at this point, adequate to ignore the propelled elements of trademarks. It is fundamental to comprehend the different reasons for the trademark. In the present financial arrangement, these capacities assume an essential job in the foundation of a trademark. There is a perceivable change witnessed in the market and society, which in turn has influenced the legal landscape. Among these, an overview will be given in this article for the protection offered in the various jurisdictions to these non-conventional (personality) functions of trademarks.

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Soumya Prakash Patra ¹, Anupam Ghosh ²

Affiliations
1 Indian Institute of Management Bodh Gaya, Gaya, Bihar - 824 231,, IN
2 Department of Management, BIT Mesra, Ranchi - 835 215, Jharkhand,, IN

Abstract

For the second decade in the 21st Century, the encouraging steps taken to foster the innovation environment in India have started bearing fruits by way of the introduction of new indigenous technologies1 in the market, specifically in the area of generic medicines as well as in engineering sectors with automotive as a prime example.2 Several initiatives3 have been taken by the Government of India (GOI) to increase Research and Development (R&D) activity in India, for example, in providing tax holidays and exemptions have resulted in the development of indigenous technologies and increased patent filing. However, the prime concern now is to handle such a large number of patent applications and disposal of patent applications by the Indian Patent Offices. The author uses the empirical investigation to identify the motive of legal provisions in the Indian Patent Act, 1970 and employs a quantitative method of research to the data published by the Indian Patent. This paper evaluates the disposal mechanism in terms of a number of First Examination Reports (FERs) issued across various years by the Indian Patent Officeand gives a performance indicator on its working efficiency. The study gives an overview of the Patent Prosecution Procedure for the disposal of patents in India. Also, the paper studies the disposal of patent applications by the four regional Patent Offices in India. The paper would focus on analysing the disposal of patents and its impact on the global innovation index published by the WIPO.

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