Delhi High Court Reinforces Indian Position on Business Method Patents

In May, the Delhi High Court affirmed the Indian position on the non-patentability of “Business Methods” in the case of Open TV Inc. v The Controller of Patents and Designs. The Court stated that for a business method to be patentable, it must address a business or administrative problem and provide a solution in its own form, separate from being just a business method.

The case involved an appeal by Open TV Inc. (Open TV), a California-based company, against the rejection of their patent application titled “System and method to provide gift media” by the Controller of Patents and Designs (Controller).