EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS PATENT FEES REDUCED BY 80%

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS PATENT FEES REDUCED BY 80%

Context:

In another important step towards Mission Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the benefits associated with 80% of the fee for patent filing & prosecution have been extended to Educational Institutions. The Centre has notified the amendments to the Patents Rules in this regard.

Procedure to Apply for Patent:

• At the time of applying for a patent, innovators must apply for these patents on behalf of the institutions that must pay the applicants' fees, which are the highest and most effective as a disincentive.
• In this regard and to encourage greater participation of educational institutions, which play an important role in the country's new, legal fees paid in respect of various acts under the Copyright Act, 2003, have been reduced by means of a Patent (Amendment Act, 2021, which came into effect on 21 September 2021.

By amending these Rules, the procedures are made more consistent, timely, easy to use and compatible with e-transactions. In this regard, the following programs have been adopted by the Department:

i. Expansion of staff by hiring new examiners.

ii. Making process of applying and granting patents completely online.

iii. Hearing Patent cases through Video-Conferencing with fast and contact-less proceedings.

iv. Powerful website redesign and real-time based hassle-free dissemination of IP  information to stakeholders.

v. Promoting the digital process for applying & granting Patents.

vi. Scheme for Facilitating Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) has been launched to provide facilitators at Startups for filing and processing of their applications. Fees for such facilitators are refunded conditionally under the SIPP scheme.