IPDC is a 7 year old Initiative of IIPRD, and its sister Law Firm K&K to bring about greater awareness and respect for Intellectual Property (IP) Issues, particularly for Patents, which have, over time, become more relevant to the Indian Ecosystem than ever. With rising Patent Litigation in India, quality of patents and the scope provided thereby is a crucial aspect that is evaluated / scrutinized by the Courts/Appellate Boards. Furthermore, gone are the times when Indian Companies, Universities, and Individuals were only looking forward to creating Defensive Patent Portfolios in India, wherein entities are nowadays looking towards building an aggressive portfolio with sustainable commercial value. More and more PCT and Convention Applications are being filed each month/year by Indian Applicants with around 40-60 Indian Priority Taking PCT Applications being published each week. Most of these patents are filed with an objective of either Licensing, or Enforcement, or In- House Commercialization, and hence quality of patent drafting including claim drafting, scope of protection accorded, variety of embodiments presented, support in the specification, limitations provided, among other aspects is crucial to Patent Applications.

This initiative of IPDC comes with an earnest effort by IIPRD and K&K to promote the development of Patent Drafting as a Skill Set and encourage more and more technical people to take up Patent Drafting as a Professional Competency, along with identifying and encouraging Top Patent Drafters in Country.

Step 1: On 1’st September 2024, IIPRD and K&K, on their websites (www.iiprd.com and www.khuranaandkhurana.com), would put forth two Invention Disclosures (describing two inventions), one each in the domain of Life Sciences and Engineering. The Patent Drafting Competition would be active till 19’th September 2024, within which time frame, Eligible Participants would need to write Complete Patent Applications/Specifications (along with Drawings, if applicable) complying with Indian Patent Act for a technical domain of their choice (1 Patent Application per Participant).

Step 2: In order to enable only serious participants to submit their Applications/Specifications, a Participation Fees of Rs. 500/- is to be submitted by each Participant, which can either be paid by means of Bank Transfer, PayTM/GooglePay (to 9810617992), or through Cheque/DD in favour of “IIPRD”. The Draft should reach IIPRD’s Office by 19’th September 2024. Each fee submission should be accompanied with the Name, Address, and Contact Details of the Participant so that Participation Certificate can be sent at the given Address to Each Participant.

Step 3: Drafted Patent Application can be sent to [email protected] or can be sent in Hard Copy to Physical Office of IIPRD, which is at “D-45, UPSIDC, Site-IV, Kasna Road, Greater Noida”. In either of the ways, the patent application draft has to be received by IIPRD on or before 19’th September 2024.

On 30’th of September 2024, three winners would be announced on the website of IIPRD, K&K, and its affiliates/associates, wherein the winners would be decided based on a combination of numerous factors such as flow of the specification, scope covered through embodiments, claim drafting strategy, and accuracy of technical coverage. The evaluation would be done collectively by representatives from each International Law Firm and Khurana & Khurana, IP Attorneys, coordinated by IIPRD. Their collective decision on selection of the winners would be final and shall not be open to change in any manner. The prize money for the first, second and third winners will be INR 1,00,000, 50,000, and 25,000 respectively.

Any Practitioner having a Technical/Science Background is eligible to Participate in the Competition. For instance, the Participant could be a student, a practicing Attorney, an in-house counsel, a scientist, a faculty, or any other stakeholder having a technical qualification.

Important Dates to Remember:

WINNERS LIST (2023)

WINNERS LIST (2022)

WINNERS LIST (2019)

WINNERS LIST (2018)

WINNERS LIST (2017)

WINNERS LIST (2016)

WINNERS LIST (2015)