THE ADVANTAGE/DISADVANTAGE OF THE HARMONIZATION OF THE PATENT SYSTEM

1. JPO Long-term Research Fellowship(29th October 2007 - 31st March 2008) THE ADVANTAGE/DISADVANTAGE OF THE HARMONIZATION OF THE PATENT SYSTEM Supervised by Prof. YOSHITOSHI TANAKA NALINI KANTA MOHANTY ASSISTANT CONTROLLER OF PATENTS AND DESIGNS, Indian Patent Office,MUMBAI、INDIA

2. CONTENTS • BACKGROUND • RESEARCH SUMMARY • CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

3. History of patent system • Society should reward those individuals who create things useful for society. - Hippodamus • By rewarding individuals for doing good, the individuals will do good for the reward over the benefit of the state. -Aristotlecriticized Hippodamus.

4. Ancient patent system - Sybaris- if any confectioner or cook invented any peculiar and exclusive dish,no other artist was allowed to make this . • Term – 1 year • Purpose - others might be induced to labour at excelling in such pursuits

5. Modern patent law • 1474 –Venetian patent statute • concepts of novelty, registration of the new device, term of exclusive right, infringement of patents compulsory license.

6. 1624- Statute of Monopolies. • 1790 -The first U.S. patents act. • 1791 -the French Patents Act , • Subsequently patent laws enacted in other European Countries between 1800 and 1882.

7. International Arrangements • Paris Convention • Regional Developments • Patent Cooperation Treaty • Draft Patent Harmonization Treaty (1991) • TRIPS • Standing Committee on the Law of Patents • Patent Law treaty • Draft SubstantivePatent Law Treaty

8. No.of applications filed worldwide

9. No of applications in 10 countries

10. Non resident filing

11. non-resident patent filings as a percentage of total filings

12. PCT int. applications filed from 1990 to 2006

13. Applications filed in EPO,JPO and USPTO in the year 2006.

14. No.of applications filed in 242000 applications duplicated

15. What is the need for harmonization of patent system? • User demand • Cost reduction • Timely grant • Good quality • Protection in all field of activities • Government demand

16. What is the need for harmonization of patent system? • Government demand • Reduce workload • Reduce cost • Increase FDI,technology transfer • Enhance policy space

17. The hypothesis of my research “Regarding harmonization what is advantageous to the developed countries may be disadvantageous to the developing/least developed countries.”

18. OBJECTIVES 1.Simplicity 2.Uniformity 3.Reliability 4.Enforceability Takeshi ISAYAMA　　　Commissioner Japanese Patent Office　　　May 19, 1999

19. THE ADVANTAGES • Simplification of the process of obtaining the patent; • Reduction of work load of the patent office;- • Broadening of patentable subject matter:

20. THE ADVANTAGES • Increase the predictability of the patent • Reduction in cost of Patenting • Cuts down on “forum shopping “ • Expansion of policy space for the developed countries

21. THE DISADVANTAGES • Reduce the policy space of the government: • Lack of diverse systems (a single cause affect the all systems equally) • The agreement towards the Stronger Patent System may not be good for the economy (Imitation to innovation path will be closed) (Pulling up the ladder)

22. THE CONDITIONS WHICH MAY ADD TO DISADVANTAGES • Lack of Infrastructure • Lack of awareness • Too many things at too little time space • The cost of administration may be high • The priorities before the countries are diverse

23. Dissimilarities in national laws on various aspect of Patenting • Filing system • Grace period • Prior Art • Novelty • Inventive step • Industrial applicability • Enabling disclosure • Interpretation of Claims • Exception to patentability • Exemption from patent • Exhaustion of patent

24. The Substantive Standard For patent

25. The Substantive Standard For patent-contd.

26. THE APPROACH • Harmonize the formal laws • Harmonize the substantive laws • Harmonize the interpretation • Strive for one Universal patent (technology knows no boundary)

27. Development towards work sharing • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)—Proposed by JPO JPO-USPTO,JPO-UK_IPO,JPO-KIPO,JPO-GPTO(planned) • Strategic Handling of Applications for Rapid Examination - SHARE • New Route Proposal—Proposed by JPO • The TRIWAY Proposal —Proposed by USPTO

28. PPH

30. TRIWAY • STEP 1: A corresponding application has to be filed in each of the Trilateral Offices and each application must be ready for examination • STEP 2: One of the 3 Offices is selected as the first Office to carry out the search and examination. • STEP 3: The application in the first office is placed in the special status queue for action. • STEP 4: The first Office sends the search results and the resulting office action to the other two offices in the Trilateral Dossier Access System (TDA) within an agreed time limit. • STEP 5: The second and third Offices complete theirrespective searches within an agreed time limitand send their search results in the TDA to beavailable to all Trilateral Offices.

31. CONCLUSIONS • A close look at the details of each nation's rules will doubtless reveal differences, but at the same time, many similarities can be found as well. And many of the differences can well be overcome through cooperation and effort -Takeshi ISAYAMA • Harmonization will have both advantages and disadvantages • The disadvantageous effect is due to nonegalitarian nature of the country • Harmonization process has started and it is irreversible,so the developing countries should try to involve them selves in the harmonization process and set the standard for harmonization such that their interests will be taken care of. • The level of industrialisation and technical education and creation of IP and aware ness of IP should be improved.

32. ARIGATO GOZAIMASU THANK YOU VERY MUCH THANK YOU TOKYO THANK YOU JAPAN