Software Patents Granted in India

Patent applications claiming computer related innovations, software and mobile applications can be patented in India if patent claims are drafted to protect the innovative aspects of such inventions. Specifically, the innovative aspects can include inventive process / methods along with inventive apparatus / system (hardware components).

Recently, it was reported that Qualcomm takes another shot at iPhone sales ban in patent proceedings. This latest case is the second complaint that Qualcomm has brought against Apple before the ITC. In the first case, Qualcomm says Apple is infringing on battery-saving patents. It also seeks a partial iPhone ban.

Software (Mobile App) patents covering computer related inventions are regularly granted in India and following are the key points to handle such cases through the grant stage:

1. The patent office examines the case to determine if the claimed invention possesses hardware limitations. This can be handled by incorporating physical constructional features, such as, processing units, terminals, handheld devices, etc.

2. To further address such concerns, the practical applications can be highlighted in the patent application, i.e. describing how the invention is able to solve the problems more efficiently as compared to existing solutions. 

3. In addition, the patent draft should also focus on technical advances proposed by the claimed invention, which are absent in existing solutions, like artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics etc.

Some examples of software patents granted in India are listed below:

Software Patents Examples

1. DISAGGREGATED SECURE EXECUTION ENVIRONMENT – 3803/CHENP/2008This Indian patent application has been granted by the Indian patent office on 19th Sept., 2016. This patent claims priority from US patent US11/353,675 with PCT International Application Number as PCT/US2007/002322. The subject matter of this patent relates to, an electronic device, such as, a computer, which may be adapted for self-monitoring for compliance to an operating policy. The operating policy may specify a pay-per-use or subscription business model and measurements associated with compliant usage. A secure execution environment may measure usage in accordance with the business model as well as monitor and enforce compliance to the operating policy To increase the difficulty of attacking or otherwise disabling the secure execution environment, elements of the secure execution environment may be distributed. The distribution points may include other functional elements of the computer, such as interface circuits, or may even be remotely located over a network. An implementation method for disaggregating the secure execution environment is also disclosed.
2. A SYSTEM FACILITATING A COMPUTER OBJECT ACCESS CONTROL – 5992/DELNP/2005This Indian patent application has been granted as Indian patent number 247539 on 18th April, 2011 by the Indian patent office. This patent claims priority from US patent US10/609,104 having PCT International Application number as PCT/US2004/019987. The subject matter of this patent relates to a system facilitating a computer object access control for controlling access to the computer objects, comprising: a computer display screen, a graphical user interface (100), a name field (102) indicating a name for the computer object; and one or more access control fields (110) rendered together and indicating plural selectable computer spaces (112C-112E) for the computer object, at least one of the computer spaces corresponding to a computer location and at least one of the computer spaces (112A, 112B, 112F) corresponding to access to the computer object for one or more computer users.
3. TEXT DETECTION ON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES – 3376/CHENP/2009A mobile communications device with an integrated camera is directed towards text. A video stream is analyzed in real time to detect one or more words in a specified region of the video frames and to indicate the detected words on a display. Users can select a word in a video stream and subsequently move or extend the initial selection. It is thus possible to select multiple words. A subregion of the video frame comprising the detected word(s) is pre-processed and compressed before being sent to a remote optical character recognition (OCR) function which may be integrated in an online service such as an online search service.
4. MOBILE DEVICE MANAGEMENT PROXY SYSTEM – 4135/CHENP/2009A general-purpose proxy mobile device management architecture. The architecture serves as a proxy for a mobile client seeking services from backend systems. A virtual client image of state information associated with the mobile client is stored such that when the mobile client interacts with the proxy, the virtual image updates to the latest client state. Based on the changes to the state, the proxy system asynchronously accesses one or more arbitrary services of the backend systems on behalf of the mobile client. When the mobile client connects to the proxy, the proxy will have the latest services associated with the states of the virtual image, and updates the state of the mobile client. Updating and accessing occurs asynchronously on the frontend between the proxy and mobile devices and on the backend between the proxy and the backend systems.
5. UNIFYING DISCOVERABILITY OF A WEBSITE’S SERVICES – 4795/CHENP/2009Various embodiments provide a unified discovery control that can be incorporated as part of a web browser. The unified discovery control provides a central location that describes various services that a website has to offer. In addition, the unified discovery control can allow the user to interact with the individual services that the website has to offer as by providing the user with the ability to add, update, uninstall and/or otherwise manage the various services that are described in the unified discovery control. Thus, the unified discovery control provides a centralized management system that provides the user with a common, predictable and repeatable user experience for interacting with various services that a website can offer.

Software Patent FAQs:

• How are software patents granted in India?
• Does Indian patent law allow software patents?
• How to apply for software patent in India?
• How to patent a software in India?
• How to patent a mobile application in India?
• What are the examples of software patents in India?

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