Patent Act of 1970

Objective

• The 1970 Patent Act empowered the central government with regulating India's patent administration. It aimed at promoting scientific research and innovative technologies and pioneering concepts in industrial practices, according to Praveen Dalal, arbitrator, consultant and advocate with the Supreme Court of India.
  
  

Principles

• The 1970 Patent Act states that the law grants inventor's rights for concepts that are novel and useful. Furthermore, the act defines what constitutes a patentable improvement. The law also specifies what represents prior art, such as information already known by the public or patented by someone else in the past.
  
  

Amendments

• The 1970 Patent Act remained unchanged for 24 years. In 1994, an amendment added the possibility of patenting pharmaceutical products and taking the position of not accepting agricultural-based innovation, explains the website of the Controller General of Patent Designs and Trademarks. Two more amendments, effective in 2003 and 2005, brought additional clarifications from the central government.