Pre-grant opposition to the grant of patent

Section-25 lists the grounds on the basis of which a patent application can be opposed before or after grant.
This section has been 3 main provisions:

A. Section-25 (1) lists ground of pre-grant opposition [before grant and after publication of the application] and
B. Section-25 (2) lists ground of post-grant opposition [after grant of patent but within expiry of one year from the grant of patent]
C. Section-25 (3) describes the provision to constitute opposition board [applicable only in case of post-grant opposition]

Once an application for a patent has been published (before grant of a patent) any person may oppose the application by means of opposition that shall be in writing and represented (by way of statements and evidence) by way of opposition to the Controller. The grounds of pre-grant opposition are as below:

a) Applicant has obtained invention wrongfully.
b) Invention has been published before the priority date of the claim (invention lacks novelty on the date of filing) in:

• Any specification filed in pursuance of an application for a patent made in India on or after the 1st day of January, 1912 or
• India or elsewhere, in any other document (any publication etc)

c) Invention is claimed in a complete specification of which the priority date is earlier than that of the applicant’s claim even though such specifications are published on or after the priority date of the applicant’s claim and filed in pursuance of an application for a patent in India.

d) Invention was publicly known or publicly used in India before the priority date of the claim. However, even if the product made by that process has already been imported into India before that date (except where such importation has been for the purpose of reasonable trial or experiment only) invention shall be deemed to have been publicly known or publicly used in India before the priority date of the claim.

e) Invention is obvious and clearly does not involve any inventive step as inventive step is one of the essential requirements of patentability.

f) Subject matter of any claim of the complete specification is not an invention within the meaning of this Act (Section-2) or is not patentable under this Act (Section-3 and 4, Inventions not patentable).

g) Complete specification does not sufficiently and clearly describe the invention or the method by which it is to be performed.

h) Applicant has failed to disclose to the Controller the information required by Section-8 (Information and undertaking regarding foreign filing) or has furnished the information which in any material particular was false to his knowledge.

i) In the case of convention application, the application was not made within 12 months from the date of the first application for protection for the invention made in a convention country by the applicant or a person from whom he derives title.

j) Complete specification does not disclose or wrongly mentions the source or geographical origin of biological material used for the invention which is one of the requirements at the time of filing complete specification.

k) Invention claimed is anticipated having regard to the knowledge, oral or otherwise, available within any local or indigenous community in India or elsewhere.