What Are Not Anticipations: Exceptions Provided Under The Indian Patents Act

One of the first and foremost conditions for the grant of patent is that the invention should be new or novel. In other words, it can be said that the invention should not be anticipated by any publication anywhere in the World. However, it is very difficult to preserve the invention before applying for the grant of patent. In the normal course of development of an invention, many people may be involved in the same or due to the nature of the invention, same is required to be worked out or its results are to be analyzed in order to ascertain the effectiveness or efficiency. So in nutshell, it is nearly impossible to keep the invention private so as not to become public and cause problems in getting patent protection. The Indian Patent Act, 1970 (hereinafter "Act") has provided various provisions wherein exceptions are provided for anticipation. In the present article, endeavor is made to explain the provisions of the Act related to anticipation.