The Government of India in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) has vide notification dated 4 November 2020 notified the Patents (2nd Amendment) Rules, 2020 (“Rules”). The highlights of the new rules are as follows –
- In rule 7, sub rule 3, 3A and 3B which provides for transfer of patent applications from natural person (sub rule 3), small entity (sub rule 3A) and startup (sub rule 3B) have now be merged into sub rule 3.
- The Rules provide that there shall be no such difference in the scale of fee payable in case of start-ups or small entities which ceases to be a small entity due to lapse of the period during which it is recognized or its turnover crosses the threshold limit as is specified by the competent authority.
- The First Schedule to the Rules which sets out the details of the fees payable have also been revised. Fee applicable for small entities for filling and prosecuting patent applications has been reduced to bring them at par with start-ups.
The notification may be accessed here.
