WIPO Grants Global Search Status to India’s Patent Office
18-Dec-2007
NEW DELHI - The Indian Patent Office has been granted the status of International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), India’s Press Information Bureau reported.
This would enable Indian companies to apply for global patents by filing their applications in India only. As an ISA, major functions of the Indian Patent Office will be to approve or establish the title and conduct international searches.
The patents granted would be applicable in all the WIPO member countries.
“The recognition of India as an ISA/IPEA puts it in a coveted league of only 15 nations and organizations which are currently recognized at a global level by ISA/APEA,” the Indian Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Kamal Nath, said in a statement.
Being the only English speaking nation in the Asian region to be recognized as an ISA/IPEA would mean that several international applications received by WIPO under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) would be sent to the Indian Patent Offices for search and preliminary examination purposes.