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ARTICLE · 03 NOVEMBER 2023

High Court relaxes requirement for divisional patent application maintainability

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Applicants may divide a patent application in India without a lack of unity objection being raised during examination.

IndiaIntellectual Property
Maik Brinkmann
Maik Brinkmann
Ziyin Han
Ziyin Han
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Syngenta Limited v. Controller of Patents and Designs (471/2022), Delhi High Court Decision

Summary

  • A lack of unity objection of the Controller is no longer a requirement for the maintenance of a divisional application;
  • Subject matter of a divisional application does not need to be within the scope of the original claims, as long as the divisional claims are supported by the entire specification as originally filed;
  • Previous decision in Boehringer Ingelheim v. Controller of Patents and Designs with respect to divisional filing is "overruled";
  • New Delhi High Court also provides guidance to Applicants on the criteria to differentiate "different inventions" which are the basis for maintenance of a divisional application.

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