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Documentary sources of information on Indian patents
World Patent Information 23 (2001) 25±27
www.elsevier.com/locate/worpatin
Documentary sources of information on Indian patents S. Amba * Information Area, Central Leather Research Institute, Adyar, Chennai 600 020, India
Abstract Of late, descriptions of sources of information on Indian patents have been mainly con®ned to electronic sources of information that cover only the recent years. By contrast, this paper describes brie¯y some of the documentary sources of information on Indian patent speci®cations ®led between 1912 and 1972, thus enabling the identi®cation of Indian patent speci®cations over a long time span. Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Indian patent speci®cations; Documentary information sources; Historical technology pro®les
1. Introduction
2. Patents for inventions: abridgments of speci®cations
The increasing interest being shown in patents and patent literature necessitates a knowledge of the sources of information regarding them. Of late, descriptions of sources of information on Indian patents have been mainly con®ned to electronic sources of information that cover only the recent years and mainly the speci®cations ®led after 1972. However, information requirements may not be restricted to a particular time period. It is sometimes necessary to identify patents over a long period of time for the purposes of establishing novelty or for historical studies or for tracing the technological development of a subject. In such cases, it is also useful to know the sources of information for the speci®cations ®led up to 1972. An example of the way that documentary and electronic sources can together provide a perspective over a long time span in a particular technology in India is provided by the studies of Indian leather patents published in 1977 (covering 1912±1972) [1] and in 1999 (covering 1972±1997) [2]. This paper seeks to address the need to be able to retrieve information on the earlier Indian patents in many dierent technologies. It describes brie¯y some of the documentary sources of information on Indian patents applied for between 1912 when the Patent Act of 1911 came into force and April 1972 when the Patents Act of 1970 came into force.
The abridgments are intended to serve as a guide to the speci®cation. The abridgments of speci®cations are issued in fascicules, each fascicule corresponding to one group of the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme. There are 66 groups in all and each group contains 1±10 classes. The groups are indicated by Roman numerals. For example, Group XIX is Medicine and Surgery which contains the two classes: (i) disinfecting and deodorizing including medical and like preparations and (ii) medical and surgical appliances. Patents classi®ed under this group are issued in one fascicule. Each issue covers a range of 5000, 10,000 or 20,000 numbers. Against each item the following information is given ± patent number; short title; patentee; date of application and the group and class number of the patent followed by an abstract. Each issue contains a name index and a Subject Matter Index. The abstracts are informative and are illustrated with diagrams.
*
Fax: +91-44-491-1589. E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Amba).
3. Patent Oce Journal (POJ) (1912±1960) It is an annual publication of the Patent Oce. From the years 1912 to 1930, each volume of the POJ covers two years, the one preceding the year of the journal and the year corresponding to the date of the journal; for example, the POJ of 1918 covers the patents ®led during 1917 as well as 1918. However, from 1931 until 1938 the POJ covers the patents ®led in the preceding year only. After this, however, the coverage is not so systematic and there is also a break in the issue of the journal. For
0172-2190/01/$ - see front matter Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 7 2 - 2 1 9 0 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 9 6 - X
26
S. Amba / World Patent Information 23 (2001) 25±27
instance, the POJ of 1946 covers the period 1940±1943 and after 1946 the next issue of the POJ is the 1950 issue. The POJ lists the patents applied for during the speci®ed year(s). A very short indicative abstract is given for each item. There is a Subject Matter Index with cross references and a name index. The POJ also gives information on the patents in force up to the speci®ed period and information on designs, trade marks, etc. This has ceased publication since 1960. 4. Chronological Indexes (1959±1969) Chronological Indexes have been brought out for the following years ± 1959±1964; 1968 and 1969. The indexes list the patents applied for during the speci®ed year. A short abstract is given for each item. 5. Reference Index to the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme The Reference Index serves as a key to the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme. It was issued by the Patent Oce in 1959 and is in three volumes. Volume I is in two parts. The subject matter of Patent speci®cations has been classi®ed under 208 classes. These classes have been grouped into 66 groups. The groups have been assigned Roman numerals. The classes are further subdivided into sub-classes. The classes have been listed alphabetically and serial numbers have been assigned to each class. Each sub-class has been numbered with a capital letter of the alphabet and each subdivision of the subclass with indo-arabic numerals. These form the basis of the arrangement of the search ®les in the Patent Oce. Part 1 of Volume 1 lists the groups and the classes under each group. In Part 2 the classes are arranged alphabetically. Volume II gives the catchwords and phrases to headings in the classi®cation key and these have been arranged alphabetically. Volume III lists cross references to sub-classes and classes in the classi®cation key. This volume is to be used only after one of the 208 main classes has been selected. The cross references have been arranged alphabetically under the 208 main classes. These references direct mostly to an appropriate sub class or sub division under a sub class and at times to a dierent main class. 6. Subject Matter Indexes (1959±1974) Five volumes have been brought out covering the years 1959±1974. In the Subject Matter Index the 208 classes are listed alphabetically as in Part 2 of the Reference Index Volume 1 along with the sub-classes and
divisions of sub-classes under each main class. The patent numbers are indicated against each sub-class, etc. 7. Gazette of India Part 3 Section 2 A weekly publication, the Gazette contains the noti®cations and notices issued by the Controller General relating to patents and designs. The contents can be broadly divided into seven sections. In these sections can be found details regarding the patent applications ®led; patent applications accepted; national and international classi®cation codes for each patent; the main claim; restoration proceedings and opposition proceedings; the patents sealed and those which have ceased; patents which have been endorsed as ``Licenses of Right''. The Gazette also gives details regarding designs that have been registered. It should be noted that the Indian Patent Classi®cation Number is given since April 1973, and since April 1975, the International Patent Classi®cation Number. Name Index (Patentee Index) is also included in some issues. 8. Journal of the Patent Oce Technical Society Published since the 1960s by the members of the Patent Oce Technical Society, it gives statistics of the Patents and Designs ®led/granted during a particular year. It is a useful source for getting information regarding the patents ®led from dierent states, subjectwise and countrywise distribution of patent applications of a particular year. It also contains articles relating to patents and reports on patent cases and discussions on patent law and practice. 9. Patented inventions of the CSIR (1940±1964) Two volumes have been brought out by the Council of Scienti®c Industrial Research (CSIR), the ®rst in 1951 and the second in 1965. These are compilations of the speci®cations of the patented inventions of the constituent laboratories of the CSIR. The ®rst volume covers the period 1940±1950 (Patent Numbers 2774 to 43292). Each speci®cation is given in full. An index of patents in patent number order, an index of inventions and one of inventors have been included in this volume. The second volume covers the period 1940±1964. Unlike Volume 1 it does not give the full speci®cation but only the abstract of each speci®cation. It is a supplement to the one brought out in 1951. This volume gives the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme. This volume also has several indexes. The Subject Matter
S. Amba / World Patent Information 23 (2001) 25±27
Index lists the patent number against each subject category of the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme. It also includes a list of the patents taken out by each one of the constituent laboratories, a numerical list of the patents with the group number indicated against each patent and an Inventor Index.
References [1] Amba KN. Indian patents on leather and allied ®elds. Library Sci. 1981;18(3) (Paper presented at the DST Seminar on Patent Documentation and Information Services, Bombay, 1977). [2] Sangeetha MA, Chakrabarti S, Amba S. Indian leather patents: an analysis. World Patent Information 1999;21(2):69±73.
10. Conclusion In an age of expanding electronic sources of patent information, a knowledge of the documentary sources to retrieve earlier patent speci®cations remains important in many contexts, especially for novelty searches and for searches to trace the development and history of speci®c technologies.
27
S. Amba
www.elsevier.com/locate/worpatin
Documentary sources of information on Indian patents S. Amba * Information Area, Central Leather Research Institute, Adyar, Chennai 600 020, India
Abstract Of late, descriptions of sources of information on Indian patents have been mainly con®ned to electronic sources of information that cover only the recent years. By contrast, this paper describes brie¯y some of the documentary sources of information on Indian patent speci®cations ®led between 1912 and 1972, thus enabling the identi®cation of Indian patent speci®cations over a long time span. Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Indian patent speci®cations; Documentary information sources; Historical technology pro®les
1. Introduction
2. Patents for inventions: abridgments of speci®cations
The increasing interest being shown in patents and patent literature necessitates a knowledge of the sources of information regarding them. Of late, descriptions of sources of information on Indian patents have been mainly con®ned to electronic sources of information that cover only the recent years and mainly the speci®cations ®led after 1972. However, information requirements may not be restricted to a particular time period. It is sometimes necessary to identify patents over a long period of time for the purposes of establishing novelty or for historical studies or for tracing the technological development of a subject. In such cases, it is also useful to know the sources of information for the speci®cations ®led up to 1972. An example of the way that documentary and electronic sources can together provide a perspective over a long time span in a particular technology in India is provided by the studies of Indian leather patents published in 1977 (covering 1912±1972) [1] and in 1999 (covering 1972±1997) [2]. This paper seeks to address the need to be able to retrieve information on the earlier Indian patents in many dierent technologies. It describes brie¯y some of the documentary sources of information on Indian patents applied for between 1912 when the Patent Act of 1911 came into force and April 1972 when the Patents Act of 1970 came into force.
The abridgments are intended to serve as a guide to the speci®cation. The abridgments of speci®cations are issued in fascicules, each fascicule corresponding to one group of the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme. There are 66 groups in all and each group contains 1±10 classes. The groups are indicated by Roman numerals. For example, Group XIX is Medicine and Surgery which contains the two classes: (i) disinfecting and deodorizing including medical and like preparations and (ii) medical and surgical appliances. Patents classi®ed under this group are issued in one fascicule. Each issue covers a range of 5000, 10,000 or 20,000 numbers. Against each item the following information is given ± patent number; short title; patentee; date of application and the group and class number of the patent followed by an abstract. Each issue contains a name index and a Subject Matter Index. The abstracts are informative and are illustrated with diagrams.
*
Fax: +91-44-491-1589. E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Amba).
3. Patent Oce Journal (POJ) (1912±1960) It is an annual publication of the Patent Oce. From the years 1912 to 1930, each volume of the POJ covers two years, the one preceding the year of the journal and the year corresponding to the date of the journal; for example, the POJ of 1918 covers the patents ®led during 1917 as well as 1918. However, from 1931 until 1938 the POJ covers the patents ®led in the preceding year only. After this, however, the coverage is not so systematic and there is also a break in the issue of the journal. For
0172-2190/01/$ - see front matter Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 7 2 - 2 1 9 0 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 9 6 - X
26
S. Amba / World Patent Information 23 (2001) 25±27
instance, the POJ of 1946 covers the period 1940±1943 and after 1946 the next issue of the POJ is the 1950 issue. The POJ lists the patents applied for during the speci®ed year(s). A very short indicative abstract is given for each item. There is a Subject Matter Index with cross references and a name index. The POJ also gives information on the patents in force up to the speci®ed period and information on designs, trade marks, etc. This has ceased publication since 1960. 4. Chronological Indexes (1959±1969) Chronological Indexes have been brought out for the following years ± 1959±1964; 1968 and 1969. The indexes list the patents applied for during the speci®ed year. A short abstract is given for each item. 5. Reference Index to the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme The Reference Index serves as a key to the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme. It was issued by the Patent Oce in 1959 and is in three volumes. Volume I is in two parts. The subject matter of Patent speci®cations has been classi®ed under 208 classes. These classes have been grouped into 66 groups. The groups have been assigned Roman numerals. The classes are further subdivided into sub-classes. The classes have been listed alphabetically and serial numbers have been assigned to each class. Each sub-class has been numbered with a capital letter of the alphabet and each subdivision of the subclass with indo-arabic numerals. These form the basis of the arrangement of the search ®les in the Patent Oce. Part 1 of Volume 1 lists the groups and the classes under each group. In Part 2 the classes are arranged alphabetically. Volume II gives the catchwords and phrases to headings in the classi®cation key and these have been arranged alphabetically. Volume III lists cross references to sub-classes and classes in the classi®cation key. This volume is to be used only after one of the 208 main classes has been selected. The cross references have been arranged alphabetically under the 208 main classes. These references direct mostly to an appropriate sub class or sub division under a sub class and at times to a dierent main class. 6. Subject Matter Indexes (1959±1974) Five volumes have been brought out covering the years 1959±1974. In the Subject Matter Index the 208 classes are listed alphabetically as in Part 2 of the Reference Index Volume 1 along with the sub-classes and
divisions of sub-classes under each main class. The patent numbers are indicated against each sub-class, etc. 7. Gazette of India Part 3 Section 2 A weekly publication, the Gazette contains the noti®cations and notices issued by the Controller General relating to patents and designs. The contents can be broadly divided into seven sections. In these sections can be found details regarding the patent applications ®led; patent applications accepted; national and international classi®cation codes for each patent; the main claim; restoration proceedings and opposition proceedings; the patents sealed and those which have ceased; patents which have been endorsed as ``Licenses of Right''. The Gazette also gives details regarding designs that have been registered. It should be noted that the Indian Patent Classi®cation Number is given since April 1973, and since April 1975, the International Patent Classi®cation Number. Name Index (Patentee Index) is also included in some issues. 8. Journal of the Patent Oce Technical Society Published since the 1960s by the members of the Patent Oce Technical Society, it gives statistics of the Patents and Designs ®led/granted during a particular year. It is a useful source for getting information regarding the patents ®led from dierent states, subjectwise and countrywise distribution of patent applications of a particular year. It also contains articles relating to patents and reports on patent cases and discussions on patent law and practice. 9. Patented inventions of the CSIR (1940±1964) Two volumes have been brought out by the Council of Scienti®c Industrial Research (CSIR), the ®rst in 1951 and the second in 1965. These are compilations of the speci®cations of the patented inventions of the constituent laboratories of the CSIR. The ®rst volume covers the period 1940±1950 (Patent Numbers 2774 to 43292). Each speci®cation is given in full. An index of patents in patent number order, an index of inventions and one of inventors have been included in this volume. The second volume covers the period 1940±1964. Unlike Volume 1 it does not give the full speci®cation but only the abstract of each speci®cation. It is a supplement to the one brought out in 1951. This volume gives the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme. This volume also has several indexes. The Subject Matter
S. Amba / World Patent Information 23 (2001) 25±27
Index lists the patent number against each subject category of the Indian Patent Classi®cation Scheme. It also includes a list of the patents taken out by each one of the constituent laboratories, a numerical list of the patents with the group number indicated against each patent and an Inventor Index.
References [1] Amba KN. Indian patents on leather and allied ®elds. Library Sci. 1981;18(3) (Paper presented at the DST Seminar on Patent Documentation and Information Services, Bombay, 1977). [2] Sangeetha MA, Chakrabarti S, Amba S. Indian leather patents: an analysis. World Patent Information 1999;21(2):69±73.
10. Conclusion In an age of expanding electronic sources of patent information, a knowledge of the documentary sources to retrieve earlier patent speci®cations remains important in many contexts, especially for novelty searches and for searches to trace the development and history of speci®c technologies.
27
S. Amba