An Overview of Patent Term Extension

An Overview of Patent Term Extension
Karan Singh
| Updated: Apr 21, 2021 | Category: Patent

A Patent is an imperative part of Intellectual Property Right (IPR). It provides an exclusive right to the actual inventor on Patent Registration for a unique and distinct invention made by the inventor, a patentable subject, original, and proficient for industrial application. An independent authority has the authority to issue a lawful document to the inventor to create, sell and use their invention for a specific number of years with a common term of 20 years. However, there is a requirement for Patent term extension to give the inventor more time to use their invention for the objective of advancement and growth of invention. Scroll down to check more information regarding the Patent Term Extension in India.

What is the meaning of Patent Term Extension?

This period of time can be increased only by following both constitutional laws and conventional laws that particularly provides for the requirement of Patent term extension and can extend the Patent term for not more than five years. Previous few years, there is much dispute on the extension of the time period of Patent because most of the inventor’s time is delayed at the time of application process and examination of consents from various regulatory bodies.

Extension of Patent Term: Why is it Necessary?

Following are some reasons for the Patent Terms Extension. The current timeline of a Patent grant was made mandatory by the TRIPS agreement[1]. At current, the extension time of the Patent is not allowed in India. Although there are some reasons which can be considered for Patent Extension and you can check all the reason below:

  1. During the Patent examination process, the inventor has to pay a high amount of maintenance fees;
  2. Other regulatory bodies can also be the reason for the delay in providing consent due to various tests for checking the Patent processing;
  3. While the inventor files an application and submits it to the IPO or Indian Patent Office for consent for their invention. This way of processing of the application takes half of the time of the Patent granted;
  4. Patent term extension will aid to improve many businesses if they have to attain regulatory consent for a medicine or drug;
  5. Due to such the extension of a Patent, the actual inventor can get benefit to gain financial benefits of the invention, which they couldn’t receive at the time of inspection of Patent application;
  6. In the case of pharmaceutical inventions in India, even when the Patent is granted to the inventor, the patented product is not permitted to be promoted for quite a few years;
  7. The extension of a Patent will serve the primary cause of providing under Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), i.e., promoting innovation in the industry. The inventors will be able to work easily for the improvement of their invention and encourage development.

What are the Effects of Patent Term in India?

The RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) is an authority of free trade agreement between the Asia Pacific Countries and has fifteen signatories. RCEP has reawakened the debate regarding the Patent term. It has estimated to further extend the current twenty-year Patent term for pharmaceuticals. On considering the proposal as mentioned above it was noticed that the proposal of Patent is not appropriate for India, as here the Patent control for twenty years is in itself anticipated as too long because it blocks actual competition amongst various inventors.

This is specifically considered remembering the advertisement of technologies with time and requisite, which is going too fast. The RCEP wanted to increase the specified time period to an inventor for Patent applications during the evaluation of the specific originality of invention in conformity with the requirements of Patentability.

Following are the effects of Patent Term Extension:

  1. Extension of Patent term will bring a prior Patent application representing the absence of novelty of the invention. This prior publication will not be permitted to be a part of the inspection or permit opposition proof;
  2. Extension of Patent could disapprovingly have an effect on access to the financial medicines that are manufactured by the conventional pharmaceutical companies;
  3. Postponement of the time period for Patent will make patenting simpler for organizations and companies;
  4. The longer period of Patent for pharmaceutical companies will cause deferment in the passing of traditional forms, which could undesirably affect the access to sensibly priced medicines.

Condemnation on the Extension of Patent Term

  • With the Patent extension, it will affect longer individuality for the invention, and thus, it will take more time for the technology covered by the Patent to come under the public domain. Therefore, Patent term can make a technological lock-in;
  • Even the TRIPS agreement doesn’t require the inventors to give such extension benefit that means there is no obligation in India to grant Non-Patent exclusivities and the extension of Patent Term;
  • The facility of granting the extension of Patent term and non-patent exclusivities will require the inventors the formation of the Patent Linkage System in India, which is not currently in effect. India is not planning to form any Patent linkage system because it has not entered any trade agreement which commands such provisions;
  • If such provisions are implemented, they would extremely cause delay to the entry of common varieties of the drugs into the market. India is an emerging nation, and it always takes decision taking into thought the needy and deprived sections of the society so it will not grant the Patent term extension.

Note: India is not a signatory to any trade agreements such as TPP or Trans-Pacific Partnership, RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Such trade agreements, which are influenced by the largepharma companies of the developed nations, consists of a new regime called TRIPS Plus. However, India is not obligated for the same.

Conclusion

The advanced nations search for Patent term extension considering that it is vital to recovering the costs from R&D. The objective of extension has the same point of view that this time period of extension could add up to the loss caused at the time of apply for the inspection by the regulatory bodies or due to the delays caused by the Patent office, but such arguments are unjustifiable.

Also, Read: What are the Benefits of Patent Registration in India?

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Karan Singh

A legal writing enthusiast, a wanderer, and a zealous reader. After gaining a lot of knowledge about the diverse legal topics and developing research skills, Karan joined the league of legal content writers to deliver quality-rich blogs.

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