Unit V: Research Ethics, IPR and Publishing

Q.1. What is the procedure for filing patent?

Answer

STEP 1: Patent Searches: searches are conducted and worldwide to know the novelty of an
invention. Generally, it is considered safe to do patent searches before patent application filing.
If an invention is found in prior arts or closes to prior arts then the novelty of that invention can
be challenged by the Indian Patent Office. Therefore, it is important to perform prior art searches
in order to save the money and time of an applicant.

STEP 2: Patent Drafting: After conducting thorough searches worldwide, the invention is
written in a techno-legal language known as the specification which can be with or without
claims. Without claims is the provisional specification and with claims is the complete
specification. The specification specifies the field of invention, detailed description of the
invention with working examples and the best method to perform an invention so that a person
skilled in the art can perform the invention. The legal part comes with the claims of the invention
which define the legal protection sought by an inventor.

STEP 3: Patent Application Filing: Patent application filing is the first step towards obtaining
a patent. Procedure Patent Registration in India application filed as a provisional application
is generally filed to claim priority date over other applications. A patent application consists of
series of forms prepared according to the Indian Patent Act, 1970. The drafted provisional or
complete specification is filed in Form-2 of the Indian Patent Act,1970. If a provisional patent
application is filed then within 12 months of its filing complete specification has to be filed.
There are 6 different kinds of filing filed in the Indian Patent Office.
These are:
1. Ordinary application
2. PCT National phase application
3. PCT International application
4. Convention application
5. Divisional application
6. Patent of addition application

STEP 4: Publication of Patent Application:

Once the Procedure Patent Registration in India has been filed, then after the expiry of 18
months from the date of filing or date of priority whichever is earlier, the application is published
in an official journal and is open to the public. This is a chance given to the public to raise an
objection if any.
STEP 5: Examination of Patent Application/Patent Prosecution
The patent application is examined only when a request for examination has been filed. The
request for examination has to be filed within 48 months of the application filing date or date of
the priority. The patent examiner examines a patent application and issues an examination report.
The examination report contains a series of objections raised by an examiner. The response to an
examination report has to be filed within 12 months of the issuance of the examination report. If
needed examiner calls applicant or his agent for hearing. This phase is called as patent
prosecution.

STEP 6: Grant of a Patent

After all objections to the examination report have been compiled and the examiner is satisfied
with the reply of an applicant, the application is put in order for grant. On the other hand, if the
examiner is not satisfied with the reply and arguments of an applicant, then he/she can reject the
application.

Q.2. What can be patented? What cannot? Illustrate with suitable example

Answer:

An invention can be patented if it has a useful purpose, has patentable subject matter, is novel,
and is non-obvious. The patent could cover a composition, production process, machine, tool, or
an upgrade to an existing invention. Inventors must meet certain government guidelines -to get a
patent.

To get a patent, the person's invention must meet four requirements:

 The invention must have a useful purpose.

 The invention must meet the legal definition of "novel."

 The invention can't be something that anyone could invent.

 The invention must have patentable subject matter.

The government has a group of subjects that it names as "patentable subject matter." These items
include:

 A new composition or formula.

 A machine, usually one with moving parts or circuitry.
 A process or method i.e. a new way of doing something better and/or more efficiently.
 A simple tool or the like that can do something: Examples are things like pencils,
hammers, screwdrivers, and baskets. All of them do a specific task. New tools have value
and are patentable for that reason.
 Examples of patentable items:

 Business methods
 Computer hardware
 Computer accessories
 Internet advances
 Machines
 Musical instruments
 Sporting Goods

Following factors to determine patentability:

Novelty
Novelty is an important criterion in determining patentability of an invention. novelty or new
invention is defined under Section 2(l) of the Patents Act as "any invention or technology which
has not been anticipated by publication in any document or used in the country or elsewhere in
the world before the date of filing of patent application with complete specification, i.e., the
subject matter has not fallen in public domain or that it does not form part of the state of the art".
Simply put, the novelty requirement basically states that an invention should never have been
published in the public domain. It must be new with no same or similar prior arts.

Inventive step or Non-Obviousness:

Inventive step is defined under Section 2(ja) of the Patents Act as "a feature of an invention that
involves technical advance as compared to the existing knowledge or having economic
significance or both and that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art". This
means that the invention must not be obvious to a person skilled in the same field as the
invention relates to. It must be inventive and not obvious to a person skilled in the same field.

Capable of Industrial Application:

Industrial applicability is defined under Section 2(ac) of the Patents Act as "the invention is
capable of being made or used in an industry". This essentially means that the invention cannot
exist in abstract. It must be capable of being applied in any industry, which means that the
invention must have practical utility in order to be patentable.

These are the statutory criterion for the patentability of an invention. Apart from this, another
important criterion for getting a patent is disclosure of an enabling patent. An enabling patent
disclosure means a patent draft specification must disclose the invention sufficiently, so as to
enable a person skilled in the same field as the invention relates to, to carry out the invention
without undue effort. If the patent specification does not disclose an enabling patent then a patent
will most definitely not be granted.
The government won't patent an idea. It doesn't matter how revolutionary and creative that idea
is.

Some things still aren't eligible for a patent. Examples include:

 Mathematical formulas.
 Laws of nature.
 Substances found in nature: If you found a new type of lava, you couldn't patent its
existence.
 Scientific principles: Even Einstein, a patent clerk, couldn't get a patent for his scientific
principles.
 Processes involving only physical activity: These are things such as dance routines or
band performances.
 Surgical methods and procedures.
 Drugs that place the user at safety risk.
 Inventions whose purpose is criminal: This is a kind of morality clause enforced by the
government.
 Inventions whose existence violate existing scientific laws.

An exception exists. For mathematical formulas, you cannot get a patent. You can get one for a
specific usage of the formula, though. This is another example of not patenting an idea.

In India, section 3 provides a list of exclusion, and the list with examples is provided below:

1. An invention which is frivolous or which claims anything obviously contrary to well –

established natural laws: (Ex: Perpetual motion machine).

2. An invention the primary or intended use or commercial exploitation of which would be

contrary to law or morality or which causes serious prejudice to human, animal or plan life or
health or to the environment; (Ex: A method of hacking into email accounts)

3.The mere discovery of a scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory or

discovery of any living thing or non-living substance occurring in nature; (Ex: E = mc2)

4. The mere discovery of any new form of a known substance which does not result in the
enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or mere discovery of any new property or
new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus
unless such process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant.(This
exclusion has been at the forefront of most debates in the pharmaceutical sector)

5. A substance obtained by a mere admixture resulting only in the aggregation of the properties
of the components thereof or a process for producing such substance. (Ex: Mixture of sugar
and colorants in water, which only produces aggregation of properties and synergistic
properties)

6.The mere arrangement or re-arrangement or duplication of known devices each functioning

independently of one another in a known way; (Ex: A known type of torch connected to a
know type of pen. Note, both the pen and torch work independently of each other)

7.A method of agriculture or horticulture; (Ex: a method of growing plants)

8.Any process for the medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic diagnostic, therapeutic or other
treatment of human beings or any process for a similar treatment of animals to render them free
of disease or to increase their economic value or that of their products; (Ex: process of carrying
out a surgery. Note: processes in this case are not considered inventions. However, systems
and apparatuses are still considered as patentable subject matter)

9.  Plants and animals in whole or any part thereof other than micro-organisms but including
seeds, varieties and species and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of
plants and animals; (Ex: Cloning of animals)

10. A mathematical or business method or a computer program per se or algorithms; (this

exclusion has been debated to great lengths. The debate is essentially because of the
“computer program per se” exclusion. Note that, not all software related inventions are
considered as “computer program per se”. Hence, the debate is relating to what should be
considered as computer program per se, and what should not be)

11. A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation whatsoever
including cinematographic works and television productions; (Ex: movies, poems etc.)

12. A mere scheme or rule or method of performing mental act or method of playing game; (Ex:
Method of playing chess)

13. A presentation of information; (Ex: Presenting information in the form of a graph)

14. Topography of integrated circuits; (Can seek protection under Semiconductor Integrated

Circuit Lay-out Designs Act)

15. An invention which in effect, is traditional knowledge or which is an aggregation or

duplication of known properties of traditionally known component or componenets. (Usage of
Nilgiri oil for reducing aches)

Q.3. What is Technology Transfer?

Answer:
Technology transfer refers to the transfer of technology developed or initially discovered in the
public sector (e.g. universities, government agencies) to private industry for further development
and commercialization. Jobs in technology transfer may be found on either end of this transfer,
i.e. in the institutions seeking to bring their technology to market or in the companies that will
develop the technology. In addition, jobs are also found in go-between organizations such as
non-profit technology transfer centers that facilitate the transfer of technology from public sector
to private. To learn more about technology transfer and the sorts of careers in this area, visit the
web sites of some organizations involved in tech transfer given below.

Technology transfer in academic property refers to the exchange of knowledge either internal –
between students and teachers, or between teachers in the form of publications, presentations in
seminars and conferences – or as an expert opinion given to industrial associates. In general,
such initiatives help to originate and develop the initial phases of intellectual property (IP) and
provide a platform for researchers developing products for the public. The cooperation between
researchers and industry can advance knowledge to develop a technology, while IP in the form of
patents ensure that rights are protected in the interests of both parties.

Technology transfer helps in promoting academic institutes and the corresponding licensees,
both in their capabilities and visibility. While the researchers and their organizations get
recognition and motivation for research and innovation, the industry obtains the benefit of
customized technology. The public also benefits from such collaboration in the form of jobs.

Transfer of technology takes place through formal and informal channels. Some of the formals
channels include trade, licensing, joint ventures, franchising, foreign patenting, and foreign direct
investment (FDI) while the informal channel include imitation and technology spillover. The
technology transfer relates to voluntary or non-market transactions by which a firm gains access
to technology developed in another country. Therefore, policies made to develop a strong IPR
regime can help developing countries gain access to foreign technology.

Q.4. Explain trade related aspects of IPR, with suitable examples?

Answer:
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is arguably the most
important and comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property rights. Member
countries of the WTO are automatically bound by the agreement. The Agreement covers most
forms of intellectual property including patents, copyright, trademarks, geographical indications,
industrial designs, trade secrets, and exclusionary rights over new plant varieties.  It came into
force on 1 January 1995 and is binding on all members of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Intellectual Property Rights are the rights given to persons/agencies for their
creativity/innovations. These rights usually give the creator, an exclusive right over the use of
his/her creation for a certain period of time. The importance of intellectual property in India is
well established at all levels- statutory, administrative and judicial.
 This Agreement, inter-alia, contains an Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) which came into force from 1st January 1995. It lays
down minimum standards for protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in
member countries which are required to promote effective and adequate protection of intellectual
property rights with a view to reducing distortions and impediments to international trade.
The Agreement provides for norms and standards in respect of following areas of
intellectual property:
• Patents
• Trade Marks
• Copyrights
• Geographical Indications
• Industrial Designs

The basic obligation in the area of patents is that, invention in all branches of technology
whether products or processes shall be patentable if they meet the three tests of being new
involving an inventive step and being capable of industrial application. In addition to the general
security exemption which applied to the entire TRIPS Agreement, specific exclusions are
permissible from the scope of patentability of inventions, the prevention of whose commercial
exploitation is necessary to protect public order or morality, human, animal, plant life or health
or to avoid serious prejudice to the environment.
Key Features of Companies Act, 2013
The TRIPS Agreement provides for a minimum term of protection of 20 years counted from
the date of filing. India had already implemented its obligations under Articles 70.8 and 70.9 of
TRIP Agreement.

Acts related to Patents

• The Patents Act, 1970
• The Patents (amendment) Act, 1999
• The Patents (amendment) Act, 2002
• The Patents (amendment) Act, 2005
Rules pertaining to Patents
• The Patents Rules 2003
• The Patents (Amendment) Rules 2005
• The Patents (Amendment) Rules 2006

Trade Marks
Trade Marks have been defined as any sign, or any combination of signs capable of
distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. Such
distinguishing marks constitute protectable subject matter under the provisions of the TRIPS
Agreement. The Agreement provides that initial registration and each renewal of registration
shall be for a term of not less than 7 years and the registration shall be renewable indefinitely.
Compulsory licensing of trade Marks is not permitted.
Act related to Trade Marks
• Trade Marks Acts
• Trade Marks Act, 1999
• New Elements in the Trade Marks Act, 1999

Copyrights
India’s copyright law, laid down in the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 as amended by
Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999, fully reflects the Berne Convention on Copyrights, to which
India is a party. Additionally, India is party to the Geneva Convention for the Protection of rights
of Producers of Phonograms and to the Universal Copyright Convention. India is also an active
member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Geneva and UNESCO.
The copyright law has been amended periodically to keep pace with changing requirements. The
recent amendment to the copyright law, which came into force in May 1995, has ushered in
comprehensive changes and brought the copyright law in line with the developments in satellite
broadcasting, computer software and digital technology. The amended law has made provisions
for the first time, to protect performer’s rights as envisaged in the Rome Convention Several
measures have been adopted to strengthen and streamline the enforcement of copyrights. These
include the setting up of a Copyright Enforcement Advisory Council, training programs for
enforcement officers and setting up special policy cells to deal with cases relating to
infringement of copyrights.

Acts related to Copyrights

• The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012
• Copyright, Act 1957
• Copyright Rules, 1958
• Copyright Handbook
• International Copyright Order, 1999

• Copyright Piracy in India

• Amendments in the Act

Geographical Indications

The agreement contains a general obligation that parties shall provide the legal means
for interested parties to prevent the use of any means in the designation or presentation of a
good that indicates or suggests that the good in question originates in a geographical area other
than the true place of origin in a manner which misleads the public as to the geographical origin
of the good. There is no obligation under the Agreement to protect geographical indications
which are not protected in their country or origin or which have fallen into disuse in that country.
A new law for the protection of geographical indications, viz. the Geographical Indications of
Goods (Registration and the Protection) Act, 1999 has also been passed by the Parliament and
notified on 30.12.1999 and the rules made there under notified on 8-3-2002.
Industrial Designs
Industrial designs refer to creative activity which result in the ornamental or formal appearance
of a product and design right refers to a novel or original design that is accorded to the proprietor
of a validly registered design. Industrial designs are an element of intellectual property. Under
the TRIPS Agreement, minimum standards of protection of industrial designs have been
provided for. As a developing country, India has already amended its national legislation to
provide for these minimal standards.

The essential purpose of design law it to promote and protect the design element of industrial
production. It is also intended to promote innovative activity in the field of industries. The
existing legislation on industrial designs in India is contained in the New Designs Act, 2000 and
this Act will serve its purpose well in the rapid changes in technology and international
developments.
India has also achieved a mature status in the field of industrial designs and in view of
globalization of the economy, the present legislation is aligned with the changed technical and
commercial scenario and made to conform to international trends in design administration.

Q.5. What do you mean by plagiarism? What are the tools to check plagiarism?
Answer:
”Plagiarism, the act of taking the writings of another person and passing them off as
one’s own.”
Plagiarism can be considered as one of the electronic crimes, like (computer hacking,
computer viruses, spamming, phishing, copyrights violation and others crimes).

Plagiarism defined as the act of taking or attempting to take or to use (whole or parts) of
another person’s works, without referencing or citation him as the owner of this work. It
may include direct copy and paste, modification or changing some words of the original
information from the internet books, magazine, newspaper, research, journal, personal
information or ideas.

Tools to check plagiarism are:-

1) Turnitin: This is a product from iParadigms. It is a web based service. Detection and
processing is done remotely. The user uploads the suspected document to the system database.
The system creates a complete fingerprint of the document and stores it.
2) Urkund: Another server based plagiarism detection web service which offers an integrated
and automated solution for plagiarism detection. It utilizes standard email systems for
submission of documents and viewing results. This tool also claims to search through all
available online sources giving priority to educational and Scandinavian origin.
3) Copycatch: A client based tool used to compare locally available databases of documents. It
offers ‘gold‘and ‘campus versions’, giving comparison capabilities for large number of local r
sources. It also offers a web version which extends the capabilities of plagiarism detection across
the internet using the Goggle API.
4) WCopyfind: An open source tool for detecting words or phrases of defined length within a
local repository of documents. The product is being modified to extend searching capabilities
across the internet net using the Google API at ACT labs10.
5) Eve2 (Essay Verification Engine): This tool works at the client side and uses its own internet
search mechanism to find out about plagiarized contents in a suspected document.
6) GPSP - Glatt Plagiarism Screening Program: This software works locally and uses an
approach to plagiarism detection that differs from previously mentioned services. GPSP
detection is based on writing styles and patterns. The author of a suspected submission has to go
through a test of filling blank spaces in the writing. The number of correctly filled spaces and the
time taken for completion of the test provides the hypothesis of plagiarism guilt or innocence.
7) MOSS - a Measure of Software Similarity: MOSS Internet service “accepts batches of
documents and returns a set of HTML pages showing where significant sections of a pair of
documents are very similar ”. The service specializes in detecting plagiarism in C, C++, Java,
Pascal, Ada, ML, Lisp, or Scheme programs.
8) JPlag: Another internet based service which is used to detect similarities among program
source codes. Users upload the files to be compared and the system presents a report identifying
matches. JPlag does programming language syntax and structure aware analysis to find results.
9) Plagiarism-Finder: This application compares the given document with sources on the
Internet and generates HTML reports highlighting concurrent passages and providing links to the
source, for verification. It runs on Windows 2000 and XP systems and accepts files in several
standard formats such as PDF, DOC, HTML, TXT and RTF
10) Ithenticate: The application compares a given document against the document sources
available on the World Wide Web. It also compares the given document against proprietary
databases of published works (including ABI/Inform, Periodical Abstracts, Business Dateline),
as well as numerous electronic books and produces originality reports. The originality reports
provide the amounts of materials copied (in percentages) to determine the extent of plagiarism.
11) PlagiarismDetect: This is a freely available Internet service. Users need to register by
providing their names and email addresses. Once registered, text can be entered in the
text box provided or a file uploaded for analysis. A report is then sent back to the user with a list
of the links where the information has been copied from with percentages referring to the
amounts copied.
12) Ephorus: This tool requires registration with the Ephorus site and, therefore, no downloads
or installation is needed. Documents are submitted to the Ephorus website (www.ephorus.com).
The search engine compares the given document to millions of others on the WWW and reports
back with an originality report.
13) PlagAware: Is an online-service used for textual plagiarism detection, which allows and
offers some services for the user for example can search, find, analyze and trace plagiarism in the
specified topic similar to the topics, PlagAware is a search engine, which is considered as the
main element, which is strong in detecting typical contents of given texts.
14) PlagScan: Is online software used for textual plagiarism checker. PlagScan is often used by
school and provides different types of account with different features. PlagScan use complex
algorithms for checking and analyzing uploaded document for plagiarism detection, based on up-
todate linguistic research. Unique signature extracted from the document’s structure that is then
compared with PlagScan database and millions of online documents. So PlagScan is able to
detect most of plagiarism types either directs copy and paste or words switching, which provides
an accurate measurement of the level of plagiarized content in any given documents.
15) CheckForPlagiarism.net: CheckForPlagiarism.net was developed by a team of professional
academic people and became one of the best online plagiarism checkers that used to stop or
prevention of online plagiarism and minimizes its effects on academic integrity. In order to
maximize the accuracy CheckForPlagiarism.net has used the some methods like document
fingerprint and document source analysis to protect document against plagiarism.
16) iThenticate: One of the application or services designed especially for the researchers,
authors’ publisher and other. It provided by iParadigms that have introduced Turnitin in 1996 to
become the online plagiarism detection. It is designed to be used by institutions rather than
personal, but lastly they provided a limit service for single plagiarism detection user like master
and doctoral students and this allows them to check a single document of up to 25,000 words. So
they can use this service to insure or to check their draft thesis whether containing correct
citation and content originality.
17) PlagiarismDetection.org: PlagiarismDetection.org: an online service provides high level of
accuracy result in plagiarism detection. Mainly designed to help the teachers and student to
maintain and to ensure or prevent and detect plagiarism against their academic documents. It
provides quickly detect plagiarism with high level of accuracy.
18) GPlag: was developed by Chao LIU, Chen Chen, Jiawei Han at the University of Illinois-
UC, Urban in 2006. GPlag, which detects plagiarism by mining program dependence, graphs
(PDGs). A PDG is a graphic representation of the data and control dependencies within a
procedure. The PDG thus developed from original program and modified program are checked
whether it is copied or not by graph isomorphism.
19) Marble: is a tool developed in 2002 at Utrecht University. Marble is a simple, easily
maintainable tool that can be used to detect cases of suspicious similarity between Java
submissions. Marble uses a structure-based approach to
compare the submissions. It starts by splitting the submission up into flies so that each file
contains only one top-level class. The next phase is one of normalization, to remove details from
these files that are too easily changed by students: a lexical analysis is performed implemented in
Perl using regular expressions that preserves keywords like class, for and frequently used class
and method names like String, System, and to string.
20) Plaggie: Is a source code plagiarism detection engine meant for Java programming exercises.
In appearance and functionality, it is similar to JPlag. Plaggie must be installed locally and its
source code is open. Plaggie was developed in 2002 by Ahtiainen et al. at Helsinki University of
Technology. It is a stand-alone command line Java application. The basic algorithm used for
comparing two source code files is the same as for JPlag: tokenization followed by Greedy
String Tiling.
21) SIM: is a software similarity tester for programs written in C, Java, Pascal, Modula-2, Lisp,
Miranda, and for natural language. It was developed in 1989 by Dick Grune at the VU University
Amsterdam. The process SIM uses to detect similarities is to tokenize the source code first, then
to build a forward reference table that can be used to detect the best matches between newly
submitted files, and the text they need to be compared to. SIM detects similarities between
programs by evaluating their correctness, style, and uniqueness.

Q.6. What are the ethical issues related to IPR?

Answer:
‘Intellectual Property’ includes the creative and literary outputs of human such as novels, music,
motion pictures and industrial designs that are used for commercial purposes. Intellectual
property consists of original creations but the same creations are divided into two main
categories. First is creations being used for industrial purposes, and second is creations that are
copyrighted material. Industrial Property also covers patents or inventions, trademarks, industrial
designs and geographical indications of source. Patents are rights that are granted exclusively for
inventions pertaining to a product or a process.
Intellectual Property rights has vital role in all sector and the protection of intellectual property
rights is an essential component of financial policy for any country. Only such protection can
stimulate research, creativity and technological innovations by giving freedom to individual
inventors and companies to gain the benefits of their creative efforts. It is a very important issue
to plan to protect the intellectual property rights. The major needs are to
1. Prevent plagiarism.
2. Prevent others using it.

3. Prevent using it for financial gains.

4. Fulfil obligation to funding agency.

5. Support income generation strategy.

While the IPR system in India comprises of strong Intellectual Property laws but it has many
loopholes as it lacks effective implementation, for which “least priority given to adjudication of
IP matters” is often quoted as a reason. Major challenge is to inform the enforcement officials
and the Judiciary to take up issues of Intellectual Property rights, at par with other economic
offences, by bringing them under their policy locator. There are also many issues in having an
Intellectual Property fund, which can be utilized for further developing the IP culture in the
country. It is necessary to devise a National IP Policy for India, which will help in working
towards realizing the vision of India in the area of Intellectual Property rights. This will enable
the establishment of a strong socio-economic foundation and deep international trust.
In recent years, the issue of intellectual property rights protections is debatable among public
approaches to issues in developing countries. Plagiarism is a major issue. It is the act of theft of
another person's intellectual property which comprises of ideas, inventions, and original works of
authorship, words, slogans, designs, proprietary information, and using them as own without
giving credit to main author or inventor.
Today, digital technologies are major tools for creating and storing information for its speed
and easy access. Intellectual property rights apply on the Internet but the main issue is to make
them enforceable. Intellectual Property Rights Law has presented problems for advanced
technologies such as computer programmers. The law adopts that something is either in writing
protectable through copyright or a machine protectable by a patent but not by both concurrently.

Q.7. What are the major sections of a technical paper? Explain how you will prepare a
technical paper?

Answer: In the technical report the main emphasis is on (i) the methods employed, (it)
assumptions made in the course of the study, (iii) the detailed presentation of the findings
including their limitations and supporting data. A general outline of a technical report can be as
follows:
1. Summary of results: A brief review of the main findings just in two or three pages.
2. Nature of the study: Description of the general objectives of study, formulation of the problem
in operational terms, the working hypothesis, the type of analysis and data required, etc.
3. Methods employed: Specific methods used in the study and their limitations. For instance, in
sampling studies we should give details of sample design viz., sample size, sample selection, etc.
4. Data: Discussion of data collected, their sources, characteristics and limitations. If secondary
data are used, their suitability to the problem at hand be fully assessed. In case of a survey, the
manner in which data were collected should be fully described.
5. Analysis of data and presentation of findings: The analysis of data and presentation of the
findings of the study with supporting data in the form of tables and charts be fully narrated. This,
in fact, happens to be the main body of the report usually extending over several chapters.
6. Conclusions: A detailed summary of the findings and the policy implications drawn from the
results be explained.
7. Bibliography: Bibliography of various sources consulted be prepared and attached.
8. Technical appendices: Appendices be given for all technical matters relating to questionnaire,
mathematical derivations, elaboration on particular technique of analysis and the like ones.
9. Index: Index must be prepared and be given invariably in the report at the end.
 The order presented above only gives a general idea of the nature of a technical report; the
order of presentation may not necessarily be the same in all the technical reports. This, in other
words, means that the presentation may vary in different reports; even the different sections
outlined above will not always be the same, nor will all these sections appear in any particular
report.

It should, however, be remembered that even in a technical report, simple presentation and
ready availability of the findings remain an important consideration and as such the liberal use of
charts and diagrams is considered desirable.

Q.8. Comment on reproducibility and accountability in Publishing.

Answer:
Reproducibility -A research study is replicated with different subjects and different situations
for a specific purpose whether the basic findings of the original study can also be applied to other
participants and circumstances. The research results include meticulous details and records that
go into the production of a finalized article. The results should be the same upon using the same
materials and methods under different conditions. This defines the reproducibility of the
research.
The general public shows a keen interest in the outcome of research studies. It is expected
that the study results will be both accurate and informative by the time they reach the public. The
results must be genuine, and they should be reproducible. Otherwise, the general public may lose
their interest and more importantly, their trust in the scientific community.
The credibility of a research study depends on the reproducibility of results.
Scientific journals perform a public duty by publishing their findings as research articles in
scholarly journals. Prestigious journals provide an incentive to researchers and technical authors
by publishing their articles.
Accountability - Accountability is one of the primary goals in many endeavors of a society.
Accountability in scientific research is no different from accountability in other fields. Society
holds researchers accountable for results that affect nearly all aspects of our lives, from national
security to food, drugs, machines, and space– -just to name a few. The basic element of
accountability in research is integrity. Research data that lacks reproducibility are shoddy, or are
outright fraudulent, and fail to meet the standard of accountability.
In order to function well, the journal peer-review system relies on the integrity and
accountability of authors, editors and reviewers. In a published paper, there is no record of
previous submissions to other journals and the comments it might have received in the journey to
the final publication. A transparent and openly recorded submission and review process would
result in accountability, improve the quality of papers and the peer review process, and reduce
the chances of previously reported systematic cheating.
For example, the scientific input of a reviewer can also be included in their academic
activities. Although reviewing raw data can be difficult, time-consuming and expensive, having
such a policy would hold authors more accountable for the accuracy of their data and potentially
reduce scientific fraud or misconduct.
To get the most out of reviewers, journals should provide specific instructions as well as
evaluation tools or checklists for assessing certain types of manuscripts. In addition, rewarding
peer reviewers may help to increase and maintain a pool of good reviewers. These
recommendations are by no means comprehensive, but they would improve accountability of
those involved in the peer review process: authors, editors and reviewers. Such changes should
help to ensure the integrity of research and the dissemination of research findings in the scientific
literature.

Q.9 Explain the technique of writing a patent?

Answer:

Below are the techniques of writing a patent

1. Keep a record of how you came up with the idea and your step by step progress
2. Research your idea to make sure it is eligible for patenting under established
patent law
3. Make a prototype of your invention when filing a patent
4. Prepare your patent application and understand cost, patent type, and possible
provisional patent
5. Filing your patent application to obtain the actual patent that protects your
invention or design

Keep a record of how you came up with the idea and your step by step progress
Once you have your idea, it is important that you keep a record (such as a journal or notebook) of
how you came up with the idea and your progress on that idea every step of the way. A well-kept
record will provide you with proof that the work you put into the idea is all yours and may
potentially help your creative process. Carefully detail everything you have done including
corrections, improvements, and mistakes that happened before you started the process of filing
for a patent. You should also consider signing and dating each entry and having two reliable
witnesses sign as well.
However, it is important to also keep careful records of exactly who has been given
access to your idea. Be sure to obtain non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) from all employees,
contractors, and anyone else provided access. Your NDAs should always include an
acknowledgment that all rights to your idea and any work done on your idea (by employees,
contractors, etc.) remain owned solely by you. It is highly advised that you consult with
your patent lawyer when drafting any and all NDAs associated with your inventions and
potentially patentable ideas.

Research your idea to make sure it is eligible for patenting under established patent law
Research your idea and make sure that it is one that is eligible for patenting under established
patent law. As discussed above, you can patent inventions, designs, and even some plants as long
as your invention is:
New: Have you heard of this idea or something similar before?
Non-obvious: Is it something others can easily think of?
Useful: Can the idea be put to practical use?
It is important to note here that abstract ideas and natural phenomena cannot be patented. Your
research should include a USPTO patent search to make sure that a patent has not already been
issued, or is pending, for your invention, design, or idea. You may additionally want to take a
look at foreign international patents and review related scientific and technical journals. You can
read more specific details in this beginner's guide to patent searching
You should also consider some market research to determine if your idea, when developed, will
make enough money to justify the time and cost of developing it into a patentable invention or
design. Your market research will include an analysis of products on the market that accomplish
similar tasks to your invention as well as an evaluation of your potential competitors.

Make a prototype of your invention when filing a patent

It is strongly recommended that you have a prototype of your invention when filing for a patent.
A model or prototype of your invention highlights all the features in your inventor's journal. It
also provides you with something tangible that you can show to potential investors and licensees.
Most importantly, you may discover problems with your design during the prototype
development process that will need to be fixed before obtaining your patent. The prototype
development process may also bring to light features of your invention’s design that are
themselves patentable.
Your prototype may be as simple as a diagram or drawing, but developing an actual working
model, if possible, is the best way to go. Here are some guidelines to creating a prototype:
Start with a drawing. Sketch out your invention in your inventor's journal.
Develop a mock up in the form of a 3-D model.
Finally, create a fully-working model. If a prototype is too costly in real-life, consider a virtual
(computer rendered) prototype.

Prepare your patent application and understand cost, patent type, and possible provisional
patent

If you’ve successfully completed the above steps, it’s time to prepare and file your patent
application. Here are the main issues you will need to resolve during the patent filing process:
Cost: The actual patent application process can be expensive. In some cases, filing for a patent
can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000 for a simple application and well over $16,000 to file a
patent for something more complicated like a software patent. Startups may need to find
investors or take out loans to fund their patent filing.
Patent Type: As discussed above, there are three main types of patents: utility, design, and plant
patents. You will need to determine the right patent type for your idea, but in most cases, your
choice will be a utility patent.
Provisional Patent Application: Before filing an actual (non-provisional) application for your
patent, you may want to consider filing a provisional patent application. Not to be confused with
the application for the patent itself, a provisional patent application is a document filed with the
USPTO that establishes an early filing date for the subsequent filing for a non-provisional utility
patent. It also gives the applicant “patent pending” status and the right to use the term “Patent
Pending” in documents describing the invention.
A provisional patent application requires the inclusion of a specification, but is filed without a
formal patent claim, oath or declaration, or information disclosure statement. It must be followed
up with the filing of the non-provisional patent application within 12 months. The application fee
for a provisional patent application is $65 for micro-entities, $130 for small entities, and $260 for
large companies.

Filing your patent application to obtain the actual patent that protects your invention or
design

A non-provisional application, known as a Regular Patent Application (RPA), is what is filed to

obtain the actual patent that protects your invention or design. In order to receive a patent, the
application must contain words and drawings that clearly:
Demonstrate how to make and use the invention.
Explain why the invention is different from all other inventions.
Precisely describe what aspects of the invention should be patented.
You can file your patent application yourself, but the USPTO recommends that you use
a Registered Attorney or Agent. Filing can be done electronically, by mail, or by hand delivery.
Most applicants file electronically, thus avoiding a substantial “non-electronic filing fee,”
typically $400. However, it is important to note that all attachments must be in .pdf format and
must be formatted to follow specific guidelines.
First-time filers will begin by applying for a Customer Number (for correlating all filings and
correspondence) and Digital Certificate (for security purposes).
You may also complete the Customer Number Request Form and fax it to the Electronic
Business Center at (571) 273-0177, or mail it to Mail Stop CN, Commissioner for Patents, P.O.
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. For help completing the form, contact the USPTO at 1-
800-PTO-9199 (1-800-786-9199) and select option 2.
You can also fill out the Digital Certificate and mail the completed form to Mail Stop EBC
Customer Number, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

Your patent application will include a number of statements and attachments including:
A specification attachment called the “narrative” section of the application. It should include:
  A description of the invention.
 Prior art.
 The reason or purpose for the invention.
An explanation of the invention detailing: how it is constructed, what it is made of, and how it
works.
A written claim that follows these strict requirements:
 The claim should be written in sentence fragments starting with a capital letter and
ending in one period with no quotation marks or parentheses.
 A statement of the independent claim that is a broader description of the item.
 Dependent claims after the independent claim that are descriptive remarks and drawings
of the invention broken down into single parts of the item.
You must also prepare drawings that show every feature in the claims. You can typically hire
someone to prepare the drawings for around $75 to $150 per drawing sheet by searching
online. Patent drawings have strict requirements for the materials, size, form, symbols that can be
used, sharing, size of paper, margins, color, font, etc.
You will also need to include a signed and notarized oath from the inventor declaring that the
inventor believes himself or herself to be the originator of the invention. The oaths can be found
here:
 Utility Patent Oath
 Design Patent Oath
 Plant Patent Oath

Once you have received your authorization code and reference number through mail or phone
after your certificate action form has been processed, here are detailed instructions on how to fill
out your patent application using the USPTO's Electronic Filing System (EFS):

 Log into EFS.

 Upload your digital certificate and enter the password assigned when applying for
certificate
 Fill in bibliographic data.
 Name of invention
 Name and address
 Customer number
 Attach prepared .pdf documents and enter the category and description of
each document you attach
 Calculate filing fee by checking right boxes on the calculation tool
 Review each attached document and application form and submit
 Pay with credit card, USPTO deposit amount, or electronic funds transfer
(EFT). (If you decide to pay later, you need to pay by midnight EST on the day of
filing to avoid additional fees.)