Israel Model of Fostering Innovation

Feb 22, 2023 | IPR & Business

Changing market dynamics and pressure to compete globally have encouraged the growth of ‘creative destruction[1]’trends, leading to worthy innovation. To run parallel to the novel needs and demands of the market, it is essential for every country to scrutinize the scope of innovation, which ultimately affects the economic progress of a nation. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines innovation as, ‘the implementation of a new or significantly improved product or process, a new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business practices, workplace organization or external relations.’[2]

The impact of innovation on the growth and development of a country is multifold. An innovation economy is one, ‘which experience sustained growth through the creation and implementation of new technologies, product or processes in an ecosystem of inventors, entrepreneurs and investor.’[3] Mainly, four factors are attributed as contributory in shaping an innovation economy. These include economic incentives, to provide value to inventor to motivate them to invest in the innovation; financial stability; skilled human capital; and accessibility and smooth flow of information.[4]In addition to these, the Government is also required to play a role and provide its support in adopting such public policy that can help in leading the innovation driven economy.[5] This article will discuss and analyze the innovation model of Israel that led to its significant recognition throughout the globe.

Israel’s method of investing in innovation led to the creation of sustainable economic prosperity, subsequently leading to tremendous economic productivity and value

Israel is a small country in the Middle East with a population of only 8.5 million people. Despite its history of wars for freedom and continuous conflicts with neighboring countries, Israel has managed to maintain its reputation as an exceptionally prolific country in terms of nurturing an innovation-based ecosystem. Israel has long understood the importance of R&D and innovation, and how these concepts are an essential element for their country’s’ prosperity. Israel’s method of investing in innovation led to the creation of sustainable economic prosperity, subsequently leading to tremendous economic productivity and value.[6] Israel has seen a shift from being a knowledge economy to being recognized worldwide as an innovation economy. It has set an example for getting exceptional results with combined efforts of both their Government and private sector. It has been bestowed with the title of ‘Start-Up Nation’.[7]

The history of specific developments in Israel dates back to the 1960s, when Israel transformed into an emerging economy by transitioning from a country making no significant R&D contributions, to a country whose major focus was directed towards innovation led by novel R&D and technological creation.[8] The current figures may make someone believe that Israel has a rich history of strong industrial innovation, but around the year 1965, Israel saw a GDP growth of less than one percent with the lowest ratio of expenditure on R&D compared to any OECD countries except Italy.[9] The constant threat of war and terrorism that it experienced since its independence in 1948 had limited the prospects of stimulating growth.

Another significant problem faced by the economy was free immigration into Israel, resulting in an exponential rise of population in Israel during the time of its independence, almost doubling during the years of 1950-65.[10] The Government took this as an opportunity and started shaping the knowledge economy by investing heavily in education and training programs, which led to the rise of the skill and education level of the labor pool.[11] The shift was seen during the war phase of the 1970s when the focus was directed towards their defense industry which employed almost half of Israel’s scientists and engineers. Efforts were also made towards restructuring and privatization, to decentralize the economy.

During the mid-1980s, when Israel experienced an inflation rate of 375%, economic growth stunted abruptly. In response, Israel implemented a stabilization program focused towards financial reforms that helped in liberalizing the economy and bringing the inflation rate down to 20% by 1990.[12] From the 1990s onward, Israel shifted its economic model to transform into an innovation-based economy. This shift resulted in the economic growth reflecting a GDP growth of 5.9% on an average per year between the years of 1990 and 2000.[13]This growth also affected change in various domains throughout the country, including employment, inventions, etc.

By the year 2000, the employment rate in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sectors and software sectors rose to 87%.[14]Israel also saw a steady rise in the number of patent applications filed by Israeli inventors in the United States.[15] Companies started engaging in expertise likely to attract public offering to extend their link towards foreign capital markets. Interestingly, in a short span of time, Israel started representing the highest percentage of NASDAQ-listed companies in the world outside of the US along with significant recognition for most start-ups per-capita of any country.[16] It also became a country with the second largest Venture Capital industry.[17]

These achievements are the results of careful implementation of certain parameters with long-term planning mechanisms. This article will now discuss such parameters and the methodology of implementation of such factors by Israel in detail.

A. Foundation of Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS)

Israel realized the need for forming a strong base for building science and technology by the late 1960s. Israel started by creating a strong base to strengthen the roots of future prospective innovations. The Government took the decision to start building their ‘science economy’ which subsequently led to the formation of the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) in 1969 under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.[18] The OCS used to provide grants to encourage R&D activity, promoting innovations that carved the way for developments in various sectors. At the same time, Israel was also forced to invest in the military sector which boosted the R&D in the civilian and military domains. This led to a fruitful exchange of skills and technology between military and civilian sectors. The OCS also helped in building relationships with foreign companies by extending their co-operation through bilateral programs which resulted in access to global information.[19]

B. Focusing on Marketing and Business

Towards the end of the 1980s, Israel realized that a funding gap existed between growing startups and the potential market. Lack of financial intermediaries made it difficult for investors to trust startups enough to invest in them. This resulted in the failing of many companies, owing to their inability to sustain in the market. To counter this, the Government came up with a funding initiative called Yozma in 1993 which initially funded around 200 startups in Israel. These links with the foreign capital market came to fruition by pocketing successful IPO and acquisition deals from global companies, giving startups a much-needed financial boost. Furthermore, Israel saw foreign investment banks establishing their offices within the country and the emergence of Israel-specific funds by foreign venture capital firms. This indirectly helped market players to be aware of the global information which helped in better decision-making. Thus, it led to the harmonious development of entrepreneurship and innovation in Israel.

C. Government role in promoting R&D

Israel’s transition from a knowledge economy to a science economy and finally to a globally-recognized high-tech innovation economy reflects careful planning and significant efforts put forth by the Government to guide Israel’s path to global recognition. The need for a ground-breaking R&D is associated with the history of Israel freedom and subsequent wars and terrorism it faced owing to its political instability. To strengthen its military base, it started investing in military-driven technologies such as aviation and securities. It further extended it support for civilian R&D in the late 1960s, to compensate for a lack of natural resources.[20]

To develop a national science-based industry, the Government passed a law for the encouragement of R&D. The law provided incentives such as loans, discounts, tax exemptions, grants, etc. to promote industrial growth and to accelerate the exports. It was the first country to adopt the principle of ‘horizontal and neutral’ policies[21] to observe the market’s best practices that were best suited for commercialization.[22] The tax policies under these laws were framed in a startup-oriented manner to promote R&D initiatives.[23]

Some of the ground-breaking initiatives introduced by the Israeli Government are as listed below:

The Direct grant program: Under this program, the Government comprises a research team which selects firms based on their proposals and grants them 50% of their stipulated R&D budget. The firms that receive such grants are obliged to conduct all of their manufacturing in Israel itself. Grants are available for firms proposing to instill improvements in existing civilian or military products which are fixed at 30% and 20% respectively. Start-ups may avail 66% of their R&D cost for duration of two years, which should not be more than $250,000 per year. To create a balance in spreading economic benefits throughout the country, additional 10% grants are offered to those start-ups who choose to operate in certain specified geographical locations.
The MAGNET program: This program was introduced by OCS in 1993 with a vision to bring together companies and academic institutions to engage in practical research on innovative technologies. The Government provides an incentive in terms of 66% fund grants to encourage companies to tie up with research centers.
The Incubator program: This program is specifically focused towards the immigrants in Israel. By the early 1990s, immigration in Israel was at its peak. Although these immigrants were professionally skilled, they found it troublesome to form their base owing to the language barrier and their unawareness about market demands. To tackle this, the Government launched the incubator program in 1991 to support budding entrepreneurs amongst the immigrants. Incubators are physical locations with basic amenities, along with professional support systems such as lawyers, administrative staff, accountants, etc. The entrepreneurs are provided guidance on their business ideas along with funding for two years.
Bi-National Industrial R&D Foundation (BIRD): BIRD was launched in the year 1977 with the United States to promote the private industry in both the countries by encouraging harmonious development in marketing, manufacturing and R&D. Companies are eligible for conditional grants of 50% of the total R&D budget or $1.5 million, whichever is lesser. The repayment of such grants is required only if the companies are successful. This partnership helped Israel build a strong connection with the United States.[24]
MATIMOP: It is a Hebrew acronym for Israeli Industry Centre for R&D, launched to administer both international and bilateral cooperation agreements. It encouraged international companies to open their centers in Israel by providing tax reductions and other related relaxations as incentives.

D. Tackling Immigration to create a skilled human capital

Israel’s skilled human capital has helped tremendously in shaping its innovation economy. Its one-of-a-kind liberal immigration policy has helped Israel turn its disadvantage, i.e. a heavy influx of immigrants, into a profitable opportunity. This policy has contributed extensively in ameliorating Israel’s economic development. The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption was given the task to organize immigrants. Israel’s Government paid living expenses for immigrants in addition to teaching them regional languages, connecting them with professionals in their industrial domains, setting up incubators for immigrants and funding their startup ventures.[25]

E. Carving out human capital from Military base

Young people from the ages of 18 to 21 are required to serve the Israel Defense Force (IDF). There exist army units with different levels that admit people based on their score on a standardized test. Soldiers with the highest scores are placed with a unit specializing in military R&D. One such popular unit is unit 8200 which is known for its advancements in technology and intelligence. The culture of the IDF has shaped a lot of soldiers into entrepreneurs. Abilities such as taking impromptu decisions, shouldering responsibility, making quick decisions, analytical thinking, and loyalty have also contributed in shaping a business culture within the IDF.[26]

F. Promoting Intellectual Property Rights

Innovations, when shielded by private rights, encourage the nation as well as creators to indulge more in creativity and development. Israel recognized the importance of protecting intellectual property rights very early on. It revised its Patent Act in 1967 and increased the term of patent protection to 20 years including the application date. To enforce its patent rights in foreign countries, Israel became a signatory of all major treaties and conventions supported by the World Intellectual Property Organization[27](WIPO) and World Trade Organization[28] (WTO). Israel began including software under copyright protection in 1988, extending the protection period to 70 years. Creating ties with developed countries like the U.S. helped Israel to create an inexhaustive IP regime. This helped in fostering its innovation and creating a high-tech economy.[29]

Conclusion

Israel has earned a commendable name around the globe for its innovations. The R&D support provided to investors has credited Israel with plenty of profitable inventions. Around 250 companies with a global presence have R&D labs in Israel today, which includes Fortune 500 companies and tech giants like Facebook and Apple. Between a span of 1999 to 2014, Israel has started more than 10,000 companies, and is hence justified in claiming the title of Start-Up nation.[30]Israel is remarkable in that their relatively small population of approximately 9 million people is now competing with highly populated countries like the U.S. and China[31].As discussed above, the innovation sector flourishing in Israel is a result of its ability of converting its liabilities into assets.

For example, Israel tackled the lack of freshwater by developing world-class technology in drip irrigation, thereby focusing on desert agriculture. Israel also carefully planned its development in high-tech innovation to attract market leaders from developed countries. This led to only minor setbacks when their Arab neighbors decided to boycott Israeli products. Further, Israel has always focused on global customers to study the global market unlike other developing countries that helped its indigenous companies penetrate global market. Following the principle of ‘open innovation’, Israel helped startups to be guided by flourishing high-tech companies, thereby encouraging and mentoring entrepreneurs to contribute further to Israel’s economic development. This has also resulted in an exchange of ideas between enterprises, benefiting innovation on a whole and further contributing to Israel’s innovation index. By strengthening its intellectual property protection, Israel has aggrandized the value and utilization of innovations. Lastly, Israel’s history with innovation that resulted from an interplay between academic, industrial and Government sector reflects a strong foundation for Triple Helix Model of Innovation.[32]

List of 10 breakthrough innovations by Israel

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By:

Himani Jaruhar

National Law University Odishas

[1]Joseph Schumpter, ‘Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, New York’, (1950) NY: Harper & Row.

[2]Data, InterpretingInnovation. “Oslo manual.” Paris and Luxembourg: OECD/Euro-stat (2005).

[3]JonathanAvidor, ‘Building an innovation economy: Public policy lessons from Israel’ (2011) North-western Law & Econ Research Paper 11-18.

[4]ibid.

[5]HarryYuklea, ‘An Integrated Approach to VC Financing Policy: ‘The Plumber’s Model of Entrepreneurial Finance’ (2009) ERPN.

[6]MK Eli Cohen, ‘Innovation in Israel 2017 Overview, Israel Innovation Authority’, innovationisrael.org.il.

[7]Dan Senor & Saul Singer. ‘Start-up nation: The story of Israel’s economic miracle’ (Random House Digital, Inc., 2011).

[8]DanBreznitz, ‘Innovation-based industrial policy in emerging economies? The case of Israel’s IT industry’ (2006) Business and Politics 8.3.

[9]Daphne Getz &Vered Segal, ‘The Israeli innovation system: An overview of national policy and cultural aspects’ (2008) SamuelNeaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology.

[10]MeirPugatch, Morris Teubal, &OdedaZlotnick, ‘Israel’s High-Tech Catch-Up Process: The Role of IPR and Other Policies’(2009) in Odagiri et at Intellectual Property Rights, Development, and Catch Up: An International Comparative Study: An International Comparative Study (2010), Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.

[11]ibid.

[12]World Bank, ‘Inflation Rate, Israel 1961-2009’ World Development Indicators.

[13]GDP Growth: Israel & OCED, 1990-2010, World Bank WDI Data; See above, supra note 7.

[14]GilAvnimelech&Morris Teubal, ‘Creating venture capital industries that co-evolve with high tech: Insights from an extended industry life cycle perspective of the Israeli experience’ (2006) Research Policy 35.10, 1477-1498.

[15]Senor, supra n 7.

[16]Senor,supra n 7.

[17]StefanoBonini&SenemAlkan, ‘The political and legal determinants of venture capital investments around the world’ (2014) Perspectives on Financing Innovation, Routledge, 161-192.

[18] Senor,supra n 7.

[19]Senor,supra n 7.

[20]Manuel Trajtenberg, ‘Innovation policy for development: an overview1’ (2009) The New Economics of Technology Policy, 367.

[21]Meir,supra n 10.

[22]Dapne,supra n 9.

[23]AssafRazin& Efraim Sadka, ‘The economy of modern Israel: Malaise and promise’(1993) University of Chicago Press.

[24]GilAvnimelech, Martin Kenney & Morris Teubal, ‘The life cycle model for the creation of national venture capital industries: the US and Israeli experiences’, in Dr. Elisa Giuliani et al, Clusters Facing Competition: The Importance of External Linkages (Ashgate Publishing Limited2005).

[25]Senor, supra n 7.

[26]Senor, supra n 7.

[27]Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works: Texts. Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization, 1982; Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property, Mar. 20, 1883; Patent Cooperation Treaty, June 19, 1970.

[28] Agreements on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Apr. 15, 1994.

[29]Meir, supra n 10.

[30]D Nordfors and B. Berger, ‘Technology Transfer Between Industry, Academia and Defense in Israel’ (2000) Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

[31]David Yin, What Makes Israel’s Innovation Ecosystem So Successful, (Forbes, 9 Jan. 2017), <https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidyin/2017/01/09/what-makes-israels-innovation-ecosystem-so-successful/?sh=4322a5c370e4> accessed 21 May 2021.

[32]Drori, G., et al, ‘The helix model of innovation in Israel: The Institutional and Relational Landscape of Israel’s Innovation Economy’ (2013) Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Can an idea be Patented?

Feb 22, 2023 | IPR & Business

There have been a lot of discussions and difference of opinions on whether an idea can be patented or not. Well, this indeed is a tricky question with an uncertain answer.

Filing for a patent requires the invention, as a product or a process, to be novel, industrially useful and inventive. As an inventor, while drafting patent specifications, one must disclose the best method known to him or her on the day of filing patent application. An issue arises that if the invention is just an idea, what is the best method of implementing the invention? At the same time however, all inventions originate from ideas. Therefore, it must be understood clearly that patents are granted only to inventions and not to ideas, provided such inventions fulfil certain statutory conditions as specified in patent law.

There are two ways to file for a patent, i.e., either a provisional patent application or complete patent application. If the invention is still in the development stage and is not complete yet, a provisional application should be filed. Some other reasons to file a provisional application are:

The earliest date of filing or priority date is required;
Conservation of time and money is a matter of importance;
It is unsure if the invention will be developed further or not;
The experimental data concerning the invention is not ready yet;
Investor will release fund only after inventor produces evidence that patent application is filed;
Changes are expected in the experimental data before completion of the work.

It is worth noting here that provisional application may be filed if the invention is at the stage of idea, provided that the idea is executable and is capable of being performed practically because at later point of time, at the time of filing complete application, best mode of performing the invention has to be disclosed. Further, the inventor should also keep in mind that the scope of provisional and complete application must remain same. A complete specification may be filed within 12 months from the date of filing provisional application. However, if the complete specification is not filed within this time period, the provisional application gets abandoned automatically without loss of confidentiality as the provisional application was not published.

Article 83 of the European Patent Convention states that an application must disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art, and insufficient disclosure is one of the grounds for opposition of the patent.

United States patent laws explain that the patent specification must be complete enough so that a person of “ordinary skill in the art” of the invention can make and use the invention without “undue experimentation”. The laws further state that the disclosure must also contain the inventor’s “best mode” of making or practising the invention.

In India, section 10 of Patent Act sys that every complete application must fully and particularly describe the invention and its operation or use and the method by which it is to be performed. The Act also mentions that the application should disclose the best method of performing the invention which is known to the applicant and for which he is entitled to claim protection.

At the time of filing complete application, the best mode of working the invention must be disclosed. Failure to do so may expose the application to opposition before or after grant of the patent, thus leading to invalidation of the patent. In the Press Metal Corporation Limited vs Noshir Sorabji Pochkhanawalla case, it was held that it is the responsibility of the patentee to state clearly the nature and scope of what they claim in the patent, and that the patent specifications shall not contain ambiguous and obscure information.

In conclusion, an idea cannot get a patent as such if the idea not executable or cannot be converted to an invention. In order to claim priority date & protect the idea, it is recommended to file a provisional application if the invention is at the stage of an idea or experimental results of the invention are not complete and the invention is at a developmental stage. However, at the time of filing complete application, idea itself is not enough and inventor shall submit full disclosure of the invention along with best mode of working the invention.

We are here to help you and guide you in your innovation journey. Feel free to contact us at info@origiin.com or call or Whatsapp at +919845693459 to avail our expert services to register a patent. Click here to know more: Patent Registration

Author: Bindu Sharma

Unity of invention & Divisional Patent Application

Feb 21, 2023 | Indian Patents Act 1970, Key Terms of Patents Act

When a patent application is filed, it is necessary that one patent application is filed for one invention. If more than one inventions are claimed in a single patent application, such inventions shall be related to each other or we can say that such inventions shall have unity of invention. Unity of invention is a formal administrative requirement that must be met by the inventor to comply with the provisions of patent law. Basically, a patent application should relate to one and only one invention or a group of closely related inventions.

The purpose of this requirement is administrative, as well as financial and prevents applicant from filing single application for more than one inventions, while paying only one set of fees (filing fee, search fee, examination fee, renewal fees, and so on). However, if the inventions are related to each other, single patent application may be filed. For example, the inventions such as, micro organism as a product, its process of isolation, preparation of genetic recombinant strain are related to each other and form a single inventive step. Therefore, all of them have unity of invention and can be claimed and filed as single patent application.

Unity of invention also makes the classification of patent documents easier. If multiple and unrelated inventions are permitted to be claimed and filed as single patent application, assigning multiple classes will be extremely confusing and cumbersome process, further making patent search also difficult. The International Patent Classification (IPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by majority of the countries to classify the content of patents in a uniform manner based on the area of technology. Though there are very fine and detailed sub-classes, the broad classes are as below:

A: Human Necessities

B: Performing Operations, Transporting

C: Chemistry, Metallurgy

D: Textiles, Paper

E: Fixed Constructions

F: Mechanical Engineering, Lighting, Heating, Weapons

G: Physics

H: Electricity

During examination of patent application, the application may be objected due to lack of unity. However, such application is not denied the grant due to lack of unity. The applicant is given opportunity to break the parent applications into divisional applications. And this way, all divisional applications continue to exist and are taken for further prosecution. While filing the divisional application, in order to claim priority from the parent application, a statement is required to be added in divisional application, Form-1 & 2 in following format:

This is a divisional application and claims priority from the parent patent application number XXXX/CHE/XXXX with a priority date of Date/Month/year. Separate fee for filing, examination, depending upon the number of claims and pages is applicable for the divisional patent application.

If the Controller feels that one application contains more than one invention (lacks unity of invention), he may direct the applicant to split the application and file divisional application i.e., one application shall be split into more than one application. Section 16 [Power of the Controller to make orders respecting division of application] of Indian Patents Act 1970 says that when an application made by applicant claims more than one invention, the applicant on his own or to meet the official objection during examination of patent application by the examiner, may divide the application and file two or more applications, as applicable for each of the inventions. This type of application, divided out of the parent one, is called a Divisional Application. It is interesting to note that the priority date for all the divisional applications will be same as that claimed by the Parent Application (Ante-dating).

If claims of the complete specification relate to more than one invention, applicant shall file a further application in respect of an invention disclosed in the provisional or complete specification already filed in respect of the first mentioned application.

Such further application (or divisional application) shall be accompanied by a complete specification, but such complete specification shall not include any matter which was not disclosed in the complete specification filed in pursuance of the first mentioned application.

The Controller may require such amendment of the complete specification filed in pursuance of either the original or the further application as may be necessary to ensure that neither of the said complete specifications includes a claim for any matter claimed in the other.

The further application (or divisional application) and the complete specification accompanying it shall be deemed to have been filed on the date on which the first mentioned application had been filed, and the further application shall be proceeded with as a substantive application and be examined when the request for examination is filed within the prescribed period.

Illustration

Date of filing provisional application and priority date: 15th November 2006
Date of filing complete specification: 13th November 2007
Upon examination of the application, the Controller raises the objection that the invention lacks unity of invention and hence, the application should be split into 2 applications i.e., main or parent application and divisional application.
Applicant again files the divisional application on 10th Jan 2009
In such a case, both parent application and divisional application will have priority date of 15th November 2006 even though the divisional application was filed 10th Jan 2009.

This assignment of earlier date to the divisional application is called as Ante-dating.

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NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)

Feb 19, 2023 | Contracts, IPR & Business

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) or Confidentiality Agreement is a legally binding contract that establishes a legal relationship between the two parties where one party discloses the confidential information, and second party receives it. However, NDA may also be two sided where both the parties disclose and receive confidential information to each other. The parties signing the NDA agree that confidential information which they got access to, will not be made available to any others in unauthorised manner because such unauthorised disclosure may put disclosing party at a big risk.

What is Confidential Information?

Confidential information is defined as information which is not in public domain, has economic value and the owner of such information has taken reasonable steps to safeguard it. Confidential information may be categorised into technical and business information. Technical information generally includes inventions, ideas, drawings, designs, software code etc whereas business information may be related to acquisition or merging, employee salaries, future plans, product launch, press release, financial data of the company. Any information which is in public domain cannot be named as confidential information. It is important to take utmost precautions to protect confidential information of the company. Other than physical measures, companies shall also have right policies & processes to safeguard it. Executing NDA is one of the ways to safeguard such valuable information wherein the parties disclosing and receiving the confidential information agree on specific terms and conditions to avoid misappropriation of the information.

When is NDA needed?

Businesses need to disclose business or technical information to third parties very often and it is important to take precautions before such sensitive information is disclosed. NDA is an important agreement to be executed in the instance when such information is disclosed and requires to be safeguarded:

Business or product information is to be revealed to external vendors/consultants to seek advise or to get the product manufactured.
Business/financial/product information is to be discussed with investors.
Intellectual Property, especially invention details are to be disclosed to the patent attorney.
Company information is to be shared with the employees.

Main clauses of NDA

Like any other agreement, NDA is signed between atleast two parties wherein one party discloses, and other party receives the confidential information. In some situations, both parties may disclose, or receive information from each other and such NDA may be called as mutual NDA.

The agreement starts with date of execution and full name & address of the parties. All the important terms used in the agreement, including the term “Confidential Information” shall be defined to avoid discrepancies at later point of time. Reason and purpose to execute the agreement shall be defined in the agreement along with obligation of both the parties.

Every agreement, including NDA, that is executed shall be have a specific term. Date of execution, term of the agreement and way of termination form a very important part of the agreement. Depending upon need and life of confidential information, term of NDA may be fixed. For example, if the purpose of NDA is to maintain confidentiality of the invention before filing for a patent, then, as soon as patent is filed for, the confidentiality of the invention may not be strictly required to be maintained.

Injunctive Relief forms part of most NDAs where disclosing party has the right to injunctive relief to stop the other party from breaching the agreement. Under this clause, the disclosing party can get a court order to stop the other party from breaching the agreement.

Apart from this, governing law, jurisdiction shall be specified to ensure that if any dispute happens, it is resolved with least difficulty.

Conclusion

NDA is one of the most commonly executed agreement and is used for various purposes. In order to be enforceable, the NDA shall have all the clauses of a valid agreement.

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Indian Patent Agent: Eligibility, Selection, Rights

Feb 18, 2023 | Indian Patents Act 1970, Patent

A Patent agent as defined under Section 2(n) of the India Patent Act, 1970 is a person who has passed Indian Patent Agent Examination and is registered under section 126 of the Indian Patent Act as a patent agent. Patent agent is involved in drafting filing, and prosecution of the patent application before the controller on behalf of the person who wish to file a patent. Patent agent has to be authorized by the inventor to act on his behalf by executing power of attorney in his name. Patent agent is person who has written and passed patent agent exam and registered himself as a patent agent. Doing this, his name is entered in the Register of Patent Agents by the Controller.

Who can be a patent agent?

The qualifications to become a Patent agent are as follows:

He should be a citizen of India;
He have completed the age of 21;
He should have completed a degree in either Science, Engineering or Technology from any university established under law for the time being in force in the territory of India or should possess such other equivalent qualifications as specified by the Central Government; In this regard, final year students can also apply as long as they can produce their degree certificate with all the marks card within 2 months from the date of announcement of patent agent examination results;
He should have either passed the qualifying examination prescribed for the purpose or should have functioned either as an examiner or discharged the functions of the Controller under section 73 or both, for a total period not less than 10 years provided that, at time of making the application for registration he has ceased to hold any such capacity; &
He should have paid the prescribed fees.

Indian Patent Agent Examination

Only a person meeting the qualification provided under Section 126 of the Act shall apply for the Indian patent agent examination. The applicant should select the center of his convenience to write the exam which is usually conducted in 5 cities that is, Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur, Chennai and Kolkata. The Indian patent agent examination, generally, is conducted once every year and the examination consist of:

Written Exam: The written exam, conducted by the office of the Controller of patents comprises of:

Paper I (100 marks)
Paper II (100 marks)

The Paper I will have both Objective and Descriptive type questions and is based on the Patent Act and Rules.

Paper II will have questions related to drafting, interpretation of patent specifications and other descriptive questions from Patent Act and PCT.

A candidate is required to score a minimum of 50 marks in each paper to pass the examination. Therefore, to qualify, the person should be thorough with the acts, rules, practice and procedures of patenting.

Viva voce: Candidates who pass in Paper I and II are called for Viva and it is conducted for 50 marks. The questions that are generally asked are based on IPR and more specifically patent law provisions related to the technical field of the candidate. For a person to qualify as a patent agent, he should secure an overall 60% aggregate of the total marks. The amendment in relation to the scores requires to be qualified were made after 2012, Delhi High court decision in the case of, Anvitha Singh v. Union of India wherein the rule prescribing a minimum 50 per cent marks in the viva-voce part of the patent agent examination was struck down thereby giving less weight to it.

The result of the examination is usually announced after two months of conducting the examination. The results are announced on the official website of Office of Controller General of Patents.

Rights of a Patent Agent

Rights of a Patent agents are described under section 127 of The Patents Act 1970. These rights are as follows:

(a) to practice before the Controller; and

(b) to prepare all documents, transact all business and discharge such other functions as may be prescribed in connection with any proceeding before the Controller under this Act.

Indian Patent Agent is authorized to draft, file, prosecute patent and design application in India and PCT.

How to prepare for Indian Patent Agent Exam

In order to prepare for the exam, you need following:

Indian Patent Act 1970. You must be thorough with all sections, rules, fee and forms of Indian Patent Act 1970. The manual of patent office practice and procedure is very useful to understand various provisions of the Act.
1. PCT practices and procedures, fee, timelines
  1. Patent specification drafting skills
  1. General information of IPR, important case-laws

It is immensely useful to download and solve previous year question papers for practice:

Career options for patent agent

A patent agent, being atleast gradate in science is a perfect candidate to work in research and innovation-based industries. Based on his scientific degree, he can work in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, manufacturing, automobile, automotive industry as a patent engineer or patent analyst. A patent agent can work in following areas:

Different types of Patent searches like novelty search, technology landscape, invalidation search, EOU (Evidence of use) search etc.
1. Patent specification drafting, file, prosecution in India and PCT
  1. Handling patent opposition, revocation etc

Being a registered patent agent is helpful for those who want to have long term career in the area of patents. It opens up many more areas to work in, especially patent specification drafting, filing and prosecution.

Origiin has been successfully conducting training sessions to help aspiring candidates qualify the Indian Patent Agent Examination since the year 2009.

Our in-house IP experts have been instrumental in developing a comprehensive study material for the Online Course to prepare for Indian Patent Agent Examination.

Course advantages:

Learn at your own pace and convenience
Illustrations and examples provided for easy learning
Assessment and practice questions at the end of every module

Link to register for the course: https://www.origiin.com/indian-patent-agent-examination/

Some important links:

Official website of Indian Patent Office

https://ipindia.gov.in

Guidelines to apply for exam (forms, fee and procedure)

http://ipindiaonline.gov.in/AgentExam2020/Documents/Online_Application_Guidelines_2020.pdf

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References

http://ipindiaonline.gov.in/AgentExam2020/Documents/Online_Application_Guidelines_2020.pdf
https://ipindia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/IPOAct/1_31_1_patent-act-1970-11march2015.pdf
Bare act of The Patents Act 1970.
http://www.ipindia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/IPORule/1_70_1_The-Patents-Rules-2003-Updated-till-23-June-2017.pdf
The Patents rules 2003, updated till 2017.