IP Intelligence
Patent Myths
Widely repeated beliefs about patents, and what the position actually is.
Showing 12 of 51.
“More claims mean a stronger patent.”
Strength comes from the breadth and defensibility of the independent claims. A long claim set of trivial variations adds cost, not protection.
“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.
“Any improvement to a known product can be patented.”
An improvement has to be more than a workshop change, and in chemistry and pharmaceuticals a new form of a known substance faces a further test under section 3(d).
“Nobody has patented this, so it must be patentable.”
Prior art is not limited to patents. A journal article, a product manual, a thesis, a forum post or a product on sale anywhere in the world can anticipate a claim.
“Changing one word in the claim makes it new.”
Novelty is about technical content, not vocabulary. Renaming a component does nothing; a different technical feature might.
“Software cannot be patented in India.”
Section 3(k) excludes a computer programme per se. Indian courts have repeatedly held that inventions implemented in software may be patentable where they deliver a technical effect.
“A business method becomes patentable if you claim it as a system.”
Indian decisions look at substance rather than claim format. The business method bar in section 3(k) has no per se or as such qualifier at all.
“The inventor always owns the patent.”
The inventor is the person who devised the invention. The owner is whoever holds the rights, which may be an employer, a university or an assignee.
“You need a working prototype to file a patent.”
India does not require a prototype or a deposit. It requires a description sufficient for a skilled person to perform the invention.
“My copyright in the code or drawings protects the invention.”
Copyright protects the expression - the particular code, the particular drawing. It does not protect the technical idea, and a competitor who writes their own implementation does not infringe it.
“My patent is strong because the invention was hard to make.”
Strength comes from claim scope and defensibility, not from how much work the invention took.
“Keeping it secret is always safer than patenting it.”
Trade secrecy gives no protection against independent invention or reverse engineering. Patents do - at the price of publication and a fixed term.
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Every explanation here links to the ones next to it. Follow the thread rather than the menu.
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.