OPPOSITION TO GRANT OF PATENT

Sections 25 to 28 deal with the matters relating to opposition to grant of patents.

Opposition to grant of patent (s. 25). Any person interested to oppose the grant of a patent may, within 4 months from the date of advertisement (in s. 24), give notice of opposition in the prescribed form to the Controller. Such a person can oppose the application on any one or more of the following grounds only:

            (a) the applicant had wrongfully obtained the complete invention or a part thereof from a person under or through whom he claims;

            (b) the invention has been published before the priority date of the claim in any (i) Indian specification or (ii) other document in India or else where;

            (c) the invention has been the subject matter of a prior claim in an application which is prior in time than the applicant's claim;

            (d) the invention as claimed in the complete specification was publicly known or publicly used in India before the applicant's claim;

            (e) the invention as claimed by the applicant in his complete specification is obvious and does not involve any inventive step;

            (f) the invention is not patentable or its patenting is prohibited under the Act;

            (g) the complete specification of the applicant does not sufficiently and clearly describe the invention or the method by which it is to be performed.

Where any notice of opposition has been given, the Controller shall notify the applicant. He shall give to both the applicant and the opponent an opportunity to be heard before deciding the case.

In case of “obtaining”, Controller may treat application as application of opponent (s. 26). Where in an opposition proceeding to the grant of a paten, the Controller finds that the invention sought to be patented has been obtained wrongfully from the opponent, he may refuse the application on the ground of “obtaining”. In such a case, he may on request made by the opponent direct the application to proceed in the name of the opponent, with the benefit of priority date attached to the application.

Refusal of patent without opposition (s. 27). If at any time after the acceptance of the complete specification and before the grant of a patent thereon, the controller comes to know that the invention, so far as claimed in the complete specification, . has been published before the priority date of the claim, then he may refuse to grant the patent, unless the complete specification has been amended to his satisfaction.

Mention of inventor as such in patent (s.28). If a person makes a request or claim that he is the inventor of an invention in respect of a patent application then the Controller shall mention his name as an inventor in the patent granted.