Delhi High Court Upholds Patent Refusal Under Section 3(k)

Section 3 of the Patents Act, 1970, provides an exclusion to patent eligibility in India, which has remained a matter of debate. The Computer-Related Inventions (CRI) Guidelines of 2017 specifically provide and reinforce that claims must show technical advancement and a practical application that enhances hardware functionality to qualify as a patentable subject matter in India. In Kroll Information Assurance, LLC vs Controller of Patents(C.A.(COMM.IPD-PAT) 439/2022), an appeal was filed where Kroll challenged the refusal of its patent application for a system and method to locate persons via peer-to-peer networks. The Delhi High Court upheld the decision of the Controller of Patents and Designs, where the Controller found that the claimed invention fell within the ambit of exclusion as earmarked under Section 3(k), which excludes "computer programme per se" and "algorithm" from patentability.