What is the working statement obligation?
The Indian Patents Act 1970 requires every patentee and licensee to commercially “work” their patents in India to the fullest extent. This is to encourage inventions and ensure that Indian patents are commercially worked in India to the fullest extent possible, within reasonable and practical limits, so that the Indian public benefits from them. A patent is considered “worked” in India if it has been commercially exploited – that is, the patented product must be available to the public either by manufacturing the product in India, by importing it into India, or both.
Section 146(2) of the Act requires all patentees and licensees to submit an annual “working” statement to the Indian Patent Office (IPO) regarding the working of their patents in a given financial year. This requirement is known as the “working statement obligation”. The Patents (Amendment) Rules 2020 (the 2020 Rules) made certain changes to the working statement form (form 27), to simplify the required information and online submission thereof.
The 2020 Rules also:
- removed the need to provide the quantum of patented product disclosures;
- added the possibility to combine and file a single consolidated statement for related patents;
- eliminated the compulsory disclosure of information regarding the country of import and licensee; and
- removed the requirement to respond to whether the Indian public’s requirements have been met.