The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of India is all set to revamp its entire operations in the country by clearing all the possible backlog files before July 1, 2009, by more efficient deployment of its available human resources.

The IPO is in a process of rationalising the allotment of patent applications for examination by creating four groups based on subject expertise to handle the cases promptly. The groups, Chemistry and allied sciences, Biotechnology and microbiology, Mechanical and allied subjects, Electrical, electronics and related subjects, will be operational soon to handle the files more promptly with the available human resource, informed P H Kurian, controller general of patents, designs and trade marks and geographical indications (CGPDTM).

The IPO is planning to dispose about 4000 patent grantable applications and will bring out almost 7000 patents pending for publication by June end. "We are conducting discussions to rationalise the allotment of patent applications. The streamlining process will be carried out in May and June and we are expecting to start operations in a clean slate from July 1," Kurian told Pharmabiz.

The streamlining process include fixing responsibility to the available human resources, finishing the backlog of office work like digitising and screening of applications, publishing the matured patents under section 11 (A) of Indian Patents Act and preparations to dispose patent applications immediately if there is no opposition. Plans are also to centralise the operations through e-governance by integrating the offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in an IT platform.

At present, almost 42,000 patent applications are pending with the IPO with request for examination from the applicant. Out of this, almost 50 per cent applications are with the Delhi Patent Office and around 82 per cent of the total filings are from foreign applicants. The total number of applications may go much higher, as the IPO received 36,000 patent applications in the last financial year. However, the emphasis is to clear the applications for which the requests for examination are received, he added.

Further, the office is also shuffling its current human resources to bring in equity in posting as per requirement. The CGPDTM has reassigned officers in some fields like biotechnology to other related field like chemistry to suffice the requirement of human resource in the particular fields accordingly.

The IPO, which currently has staff strength of 155 officers including 80 controllers and 70 examiners, will recruit 250 more staff within the year to carry out the process immediately. The recruitment process, which will be conducted through a scientific organisation like Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is expected to complete in six to seven months, said Kurian.

The recruitment will speed up the procedural jobs and the office will be able to conduct 25 to 30 thousand examinations per year. The additional staff will also offset the current inadequacy of examiners in ratio with the controllers. The office has granted 18,000 odd patents in last year.

Kurian, who has taken charge as the CGPDTM on January 22, 2009, has asked all the joint controllers, deputy controllers and assistant controllers to dispose the pending decisions on patent opposition, for which the final hearing is over, within March 31, 2009. The paten office has disposed 90 per cent of the pending patent cases and 60-70 per cent of the trade mark files by now.

He has also delegated powers to the regional officers by creating the post of technical head by allocating certain powers in the general sections for receiving patent applications and issuing patents and certificates under the aegis of CGPDTM.