Course Developed by Dr. Sambit Mallick

Patent Law and Changes in Scientific Research in India

This lecture introduces patents given their relevance in the context of scientific research in India today. India has been in the peculiar position of having had a much longer experience with the patents system than some European countries because colonial rulers introduced a patent regime in the nineteenth century. The last colonial piece of legislation in this field was the Patents and Designs Act 1911, which was still in force at Independence (Cullet 2005: 72). The Government of India after Independence decided that the Act that was closely modeled on laws applicable in England had to be comprehensively reworked because it was deemed inappropriate to realise the economic development goals of India. This was due to the fact that the Colonial Act had failed to stimulate invention by Indian citizens and to encourage the development and exploitation of new inventions for industrial purposes in the country so as to secure benefits to the larger section of the people (Dhavan, et al. 1991). This was, for instance, reflected in the fact that the 1911 Act had led to a situation where 90 per cent of Indian patents were held by foreigners and about 90 per cent were not worked in India (cited in Cullet 2005: 72).

The first committee, the Tek Chand Committee, was set up to inquire into the usefulness of the 1911 Act for India and delivered an interim report in 1949. Further work was carried out in this area by Justice Ayyangar who delivered a comprehensive report in 1959. His basic finding, which followed the views of the Tek Chand Committee, was:

The Indian patent system has failed in its main purpose, namely to stimulate invention among Indians and to encourage the development and exploitation of new inventions for industrial purposes in the country so as to secure the benefits thereof to the largest section of the public (Justice N. Rajagopala Ayyangar, Report on the Revision of the Patents Law 11 (September 1959).