Meaning of Patent

Patent is a monopoly right conferred by Patent Office on an inventor to exploit

his invention subject to the provisions of Patents Act for a limited period of time.

During this period, the inventor is entitled to exclude anyone else from

commercially exploiting his invention. Patent relates to invention. As per

Halsbury's Laws of England, the word patent is used for denoting a monopoly

right in respect of an invention.t

In Telemecanique & Controls (I) Limited v. Schneider Electric Industries SA2

the Division Bench of Delhi High Court

observed that patent created a statutory monopoly protecting the patentee against

any unlicensed user of the patented device. "A monopoly of the patent is the

reward of the inventor?

The expression "patent" connotes a right granted to anyone who invents or

discovers a new and useful process, product, article or machine of manufacture,

or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement of any of those. It

is not an affirmative right to practice or use the invention; it is a right to exclude

others from making, using, importing, or selling patented invention, during its

term. It is a property right, which the state grants to inventors in exchange with

their covenant to share its details with the public.*

The exclusive rights conferred by the Patents Act on the inventor can be

exercised by a person other than the inventor with the latter's previous

authorization. The person to whom a patent is granted is known as patentee.

RATIONALE OF PATENT SYSTEM

Before a patent is granted, the patentee has to describe in the patent application,

the invention with such clarity and completeness of all the technical details that

any one having ordinary skill in the art should by merely reading the description,

be able to carry out the invention. In other words, before a patent is granted, the

invention has to be disclosed. The disclosure of invention provides useful

information to the public, which helps in avoiding wasteful duplication of effort

and the multiplication of costs that research aimed at finding solutions to

technical problems can entail.

The grant of patent not only recognizes and rewards the creativity of the

inventor but also acts as an inspiration for further inventions which ultimately

contributes to the technological development of a nation.

Justice Sarkaria observed in Bishwanath Prasad Radhey Sh.vam v. Hindustan

Metal Industries:5

The object of Patent Law is to encourage scientific research, new

technology and industrial progress. Grant of exclusive privilege to

own, use or sell the method or the product patented for a limited

iiivention provides useful

ut Helps in avoiding wasteful duplication of effort

period, stimulates new inventions of commercial utility. The price of

the grant of the monopoly is the disclosure of the invention at the

Patent Office, which, after the expiry of the fixed period of the
monopoly, passes into the public domain.

It is, however, noteworthy that a patent, unlike other intellectual property

rights, does not come with a presumption. There are public policy concerns

which have been reflected by Parliament, which allows patents to be challenged

at various stages, e.g. at the stage of grant under section 25(1), after the grant

under section 25(2); revocation of patent may also be sought under section 4.

and in the event of a suit, the defendant can besides contending non-

infringement, also counter claim and seek revocation under section 107.6

IS IT MANDATORY TO GET A PATENT?

It is not mandatory for an inventor to apply for a patent in respect of his

invention. It is optional. The inventor may prefer to keep his invention secret

instead of applying for a patent by disclosing it. However, where an inventor

does not apply for a patent and exploit his invention by keeping it secret, he runs

with the risk of his invention being disclosed to his competitors either by way of

reverse engineering or by communication of information by someone who

possesses such information and is under no obligation to keep it secret or by an

independent discovery. In such a case, other persons may start manufacturing the

article by using the same invention. No remedy shall be available to the inventor

in such a case.

In Shinning Industries v. Shri Krishna Industries? the Allahabad

High Court held that an invention is not a property right unless it has been
patented. It is due to this reason that inventors normally apply for patents and get

monopoly rights for a specific period of time to exploit their inventions to the

exclusion of all others.