IIIT-A given task of patent evaluation

ACKNOWLEDGING THE technical and intellectual prowess and assets of Allahabad's Indian Institute of Information Technology, the office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks of India in association with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune, have entrusted IIIT-A with the task of ascertaining the veracity and virtuosity of patent applications related to the fields of Information technology and computer engineering.

The IIIT-A is one of the rare institutions in the North India to have the expertise to evaluate the patent applications.

The Institute, says IIIT-A director Dr MD Tiwari, has drawn the best available experts and faculty members from all over the country who are being provided with the research infrastructure at par with international standards.

Taking cognisance of the well organised facilities, research mechanism and experts available at IIIT-A premises, the office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks of India has deemed IIIT-A fit for the evaluation of patent applications, added Dr Tiwari.

He further said that generally the IT and computer engineering related patent applications are moved by office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks of India through C-DAC Pune, followed by the preliminary study of patent applications by a committee of experts.

Here it is worth mentioning that a patent application has to qualify acid test of virtuosity which generally relates to novelty, industrial application and inventive step.

Experts examine the novelty of the invention with the help of available database of patent and intellectual properties besides establishing the genuineness of the claim and the product figured in application.

The patent application should qualify these criterion forwarded to high-level expert committees which comprise of eminent experts from the field of IT and computer technology for further evaluation, said Dr Tiwari.

The high-level committee then looks into important aspects like other applications for the same invention.

Throwing light over the mechanism of evaluation of patent applications, IIIT-A's Dean (Academics) Prof GC Nandi said IIIT-A receives almost 1-2 patent applications every quarter for evaluation.

It may be mentioned that the Indian Institute of Information Technology has so far evaluated 21 patent applications, out of which 14 applications were recommended as worthy to be granted patent rights.

"So far we have evaluated 21 applications and out of which 14 applications were forwarded to office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks of India with Not to Oppose remark," Dr MD Tiwari  added.

He said that these patent applications had already been granted patent rights in the US, hence after its thorough groping, applications were deemed to be fit for favourable recommendations.