IP Intelligence › Myths › If nobody has done it before, it must be patentable.
Patent myth
“If nobody has done it before, it must be patentable.”
Novelty is one requirement. The invention also needs an inventive step, must be capable of industrial application, and must not fall inside section 3 - which excludes whole categories regardless of how new they are.
Section 3 does not ask whether something is new. It asks what kind of thing it is: a business method, a computer programme per se, a method of medical treatment, a mere admixture, a mere rearrangement of known devices, a presentation of information. Something can be entirely original and still be outside the system.
Teams spend a year and a budget prosecuting an application whose subject matter was never patentable.
Sources & further reading
- Section 3, Patents Act 1970 - what are not inventions — Official IP India section text
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Section 3(k)
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Section 3(d)
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Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.