Adequacy of patent system in India for protecting AI related innovation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changing technology poised to reshape

numerous sectors, including healthcare, finance, transportation, and manufacturing. As AI's
progress continues, the matter of patenting innovations related to AI has the global attention.
Different countries tackle this matter based on their legal systems, economic goals, and strategic
considerations. In India's case, the nation has adopted a cautions and well-balanced stance when
it comes to patenting AI-related innovations. The question arises whether the AI related
innovations are patentable in India or not because interpretation of Section 3(k) of the Patents
Act, 1970, which excludes the patentability of computer programmes per se. To answer this, AI
systems use complex systems of mathematical models and/or algorithms to achieve their
intended results and are effectively classified as Computer Related Inventions (CRIs) in India
and treated as such by the Indian Patent Office (IPO). The Delhi High Court, in its 2019 decision
in Ferid Allani v. Union of India and Ors, It held that “technical effect” or “technical
contribution” must be determined to decide patentability of CRIs, and that an invention merely
being implemented using a computer program is no bar to its patentability. Like any other
invention, a CRI must fulfil the requirements of novelty, inventive step, and industrial
application to be patentable under the Indian Patents Act, 1970. In India, the hurdles most likely
to arise for AI inventions relate to subject matter patentability and inventive step, as well as
sufficiency of disclosure. A review of recent decisions shows that Controllers are now examining
CRI applications for technical effect or contribution.The lacuna present in the current patent
system is that Indian Patent Office is yet to provide specific guidelines on the issue while the
countries around the world are having the proper guidelines for example Japanese Patent Office
has issued the guidelines related to examining the AI related innovation in the year 2021. And
currently the examiners are relying on the Delhi Court decision in Ferid Allani.