Pre-grant opposition: a strategic tool for patent invalidation and boosting innovation

The article outlines the process of pre-grant opposition and the requisite criterion for the same. The case in question is an application for a patent that faced significant objections on the absence of inventive steps and the subject matter falling under non-patentable sections of the Patent Act from the Patent Office and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). CSIR filed a pre-grant opposition in the form of representation, challenging the patentability of the application on grounds covered u/s 25(1). Indian patent office accepted the representation filed by CSIR and denied the grant of patent under Section 25(1) as per Rule 55(6). Then the appellant appealed in the High Court at New Delhi and the court concluded that the subject application did not meet the requirements of Section 3(d) and Section 2(1)(ja) of the Act, and the invention did not address the objection raised by the Indian patent office.