Patenting and Semi Conductor Sector

7/29/2019 Patenting and Semi Conductor Sector

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Patenting & the Semiconductor

Sector

By

Nitin Nair

Brain League IP Services

(c) Brain League IP Services, 2013


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Patents Semiconductors

- Market advantage

- Protection

- Valuation

- Licensing



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Source: Hall & Zeidonis, 2001


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Survey Results - India

Source: Technical edge for competitive advantage by patenting: A study of Indian semiconductor industry

Surabhi Jain, Prof. A.K. Saini, Prof. R.K. Verma

- International Journal of Advanced Computer Research (ISSN (print): 2249-7277ISSN (online):2277-7970)Volume-2 Number-4 Issue-6

December-2012


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Patents Patentable Subject Matter (India)

- Mere arrangement of known devices workingindependently of each other

- A mathematical or business method

- Product/Process

Exceptions:

- Computer programs,per se

- Algorithms



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Patents - India

- Computer programs, per se (Section 3(k))

- Claims must not be directed to software per se.

- There must exist machine (or hardware) limitation

to the claims directed to a method enabled by a

software

- There must exist "technical effect".



Patents India Sample Claim 1



Patents India Sample Claim 2

A mobile phone is to be incorporated with a provision for a

plurality of current simcards and / or modified simcards, a

plurality of current simsockets and / or modified simsockets

for accepting a plurality of current simcards and / or modified

simcards, a plurality of headphone/earphone jacks foraccepting a plurality of headphone/earphone plugs and / or

a plurality of bluetooth devices in order to operate

simultaneously the said mobile phone in said different

communication networks is presented, and a plurality ofincoming and / or outgoing calls can be communicated

simultaneously with the said respective simcards.



Patents - USA

- any person who invents or discovers any new and

useful process, machine, manufacture, or

composition of matter, or any new and useful

improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefore(S. 101)


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Provisional Filing in India First Filing in India Request for a foreign filing permit

Filing in US**

12 months*

6 weeks

21 days

Publishing (18 months)

Examination Report

Examiner decision (grant/refusal)

US Patent Process

*Complete filing can also be done in India

Was the filing a

complete or a

provisional?

File the complete specification (12

months)

Provisional

Complete

**Has to be a complete specification, if an Indian provisional has been filed



Patents - USA

- A concrete, useful and tangible result

- Business Method Exception

- Machine or Transformation test



Patents USA Sample Claim 1



Patents USA Sample Claim 2

A method of determining branch metric values for branches of a

trellis for a Viterbi-like detector, comprising:

selecting a branch metric function for each of the

branches at a certain time index from a set of signal-dependent

branch metric functions; andapplying each of said selected functions to a plurality of

signal samples to determine the metric value corresponding to

the branch for which the applied branch metric function was

selected, wherein each sample corresponds to a differentsampling time instant



Patents - Europe

Article 52 of the EPC, which reads:

(1) European patents shall be granted for any inventions which

are susceptible of industrial applications, which are new and

which involve an inventive step.



Patents - Europe

Article 52 of the EPC, which reads:(2) The following in particular shall not be regarded as inventions

within the meaning of paragraph 1:

- a. discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;

- b. aesthetic creations;- c. schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts,

playing games or doing business, and programs for

computers;

- d. presentations of information.

(3) The provisions of paragraph 2 shall exclude patentability of

the subject-matter or activities referred to in that provision only to

the extent to which a European patent application or European

patent relates to such subject-matter or activities as such."



Provisional Filing in India First Filing in IndiaRequest for a foreign filing

permit

Filing in EPO**

Publishing (18 months) Examination Report

Examiner decision(grant/refusal)

Was the

filing a

complete or

a

provisional

?File the completespecification (12 months)

Enter target countriesValidate in the target

countries

12 months*

6 weeks

21 days

Provisional

Complete

*Complete filing can also be

done in India

**Has to be a complete specification, if an Indian

provisional has been filed



Patents EPO Sample Claim



Sample Claim - comparison


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Provisional Filing in India First Filing in India Request for a foreign filing permit

PCT filing

12 months*

6 weeks

21 days

Publishing (18 months)

PCT Patent Process

*Complete filing can also be done in India

Search Report** (16 months)

** From the elected search authority

Do you want to

respond to

search report?

No

Yes

Do you want to

proceed to

examination

stage?

No

Yes

File an informal response

A

File a demand + response*** (19

months)B

***

Chapter 1

Chapter 2


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Examiner Opinion

B

Enter into National Phase (20/30/31

months)

A

Due process in each of the National

phase countries

PCT Patent Process (Contd)

Chapter 2 (Contd)

Examiner decision (grant/refusal)


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Patent Search

- Performed to uncover patent/patent applications

- Free databases: USPTO, Espacenet, Google Patents


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Types of searches

- Landscape Analysis

- Freedom to Operate Analysis

- Patentability Analysis

- Infringement Analysis



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Remedies

- Design Around

- Invalidation

- Licensing



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Thank You

Nitin

[email protected]

Documents

Patenting and Semi Conductor Sector