India: Patent

India’s semiconductor ecosystem is expanding across chip design, fabrication, packaging, testing and related technology services. As semiconductor companies build increasingly valuable portfolios of chip designs, manufacturing processes and proprietary know-how, semiconductor intellectual property protection in India is becoming an important component of technology and commercial strategy.

Few procedural choices in patent litigation carry as much strategic weight as the one at the heart of this case. When a business is sued for infringing a patent it believes should never have been granted, how it mounts the challenge, by an independent revocation petition or by a counterclaim, shapes which court hears the dispute, how quickly, and at what cost. In a recent order, the Madras High Court confirmed that the Patents Act leaves that choice with the litigant, and that the choice cannot be narrowed by the opposing side.

India's Patent Office has released draft biotechnology examination guidelines that fundamentally reshape how U.S. patent practitioners should approach Indian filings. With strict limits on claim amendments and new standards for diagnostics, efficacy data, and enablement, the window to optimize claims closes at PCT national-phase entry—making pre-filing strategy more critical than ever.

India’s climate commitments are substantial a net-zero target announced at COP26 and rapid growth in non-fossil energy capacity and clean-technology innovation across solar, wind, storage, electric mobility and waste management has grown alongside them. It is tempting to assume that a dedicated, incentive-rich “green patent” regime sits behind that innovation. The more accurate picture is of a patent system that accommodates green technology through general mechanisms, while stopping short of the bespoke incentives that some other jurisdictions have introduced.

A comprehensive legal analysis of intellectual property ownership over moulds, tooling, CAD technical drawings, and product modifications in cross-border outsourced manufacturing. Covers supplier retention risks, unauthorised third-shift runs, ASEAN IP protection strategies for Indian OEMs, and a model supply-contract IP schedule.

India’s intellectual property (“IP”) framework has shifted towards decriminalisation and proportionate enforcement through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 (“Jan Vishwas Act 2023”). The reforms, effective from 1 August 2024, amended several provisions of India’s principal IP statutes, including the Patents Act, 1970, the Trade Marks Act, 1999, the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (“GI Act”).

The Indian Patent Office has introduced comprehensive guidelines governing the use of artificial intelligence in patent examination procedures, establishing a framework that balances technological efficiency with human oversight. These guidelines define permissible and prohibited uses of AI tools while addressing critical concerns around confidentiality, accuracy, and accountability in the patent examination process.

An overview Patent Filing for Consumer Products: From Prototype to Shelf Protection of patent filing for consumer products, explaining patentability, filing timelines, and the role of various Intellectual property protections.

Intellectual property portfolios can be destroyed not by litigation or competition, but by a single missed renewal deadline. A patent that survived years of prosecution or a trademark built over decades can vanish because an annuity payment went unpaid on a date nobody was watching. This examination reveals how these administrative failures occur under Indian statute, why restoration is far weaker than most proprietors assume, and what a defensible renewal framework looks like in practice.