The oft-criticized DIPP has new reason to rejoice. The brainchild of the FICCI Working Group on the Patent Office (that we had blogged about earlier), the system of e-filing of patents has received tremendous response! While the e-filing method does not reduce the fees for filing at the moment, they have made filing more convenient, and the public obviously agrees, with several thousand applications already filed. Elated with this, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has come up with new plans:
1. Apart from Patents and Trademarks, by December 2008 to allow the filing of Geographical Indications and Industrial Designs by December this year.
2. Furthermore, keeping in mind the number of patents filed online this year, the DIPP has chosen to encourage such a move and is considering the reduction of fees for all persons choosing to go the e-filing way.
3. Last but not the least, the DIPP has also decided to approach more banks to start gateway facilities for patent applicants, including PNB, Canara Bank and ICICI Bank (this facility currently is available only with the SBI and Axis Bank) and completely shift all filing to the electronic form.
We had last reported to you about the initiatives of the Patent Office to go interactive and answer queries online. We hope the DIPP continues to come up with initiatives such as these, that help simplify procedures. SpicyIP would definitely appreciate our readers to comment on this development as well as provide feedback as to the practical implementation of this wonderful e-filing method.
1. Apart from Patents and Trademarks, by December 2008 to allow the filing of Geographical Indications and Industrial Designs by December this year.
2. Furthermore, keeping in mind the number of patents filed online this year, the DIPP has chosen to encourage such a move and is considering the reduction of fees for all persons choosing to go the e-filing way.
3. Last but not the least, the DIPP has also decided to approach more banks to start gateway facilities for patent applicants, including PNB, Canara Bank and ICICI Bank (this facility currently is available only with the SBI and Axis Bank) and completely shift all filing to the electronic form.
We had last reported to you about the initiatives of the Patent Office to go interactive and answer queries online. We hope the DIPP continues to come up with initiatives such as these, that help simplify procedures. SpicyIP would definitely appreciate our readers to comment on this development as well as provide feedback as to the practical implementation of this wonderful e-filing method.
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