IP in 20 minutes

Intellectual property turns ideas into assets you can own, license and defend. Patents protect how something works, designs protect how it looks, trade marks protect what it is called, copyright protects what you wrote, drew, filmed or coded.

The rule that matters most for students: file before you show. A final-year project presented at a college exhibition, posted on LinkedIn or submitted to a journal is a public disclosure. After that, a patent in India (and almost everywhere) is usually no longer available, with only narrow exceptions.

What is not patentable in India (Section 3) includes mere discoveries, scientific principles, mathematical or business methods, computer programmes per se, methods of medical treatment, plants and animals, and traditional knowledge — but a technical application of software to solve a technical problem may still be considered. Ask before you assume either way.