Patent is a legal reward which stimulates technology and industrial growth. In India, the patent law has been suitably modified to bring it in tune with TRIPS requirements. Most of the discoveries and inventions made in technology in all fields are published in the patent specification field at the patent offices of different countries. A world wide exchange of technical information has been made possible only by the publication of such patent specifications.
The overall goals of the patent system are to stimulate innovation for the public good and to reward people for useful new inventions. The patent system aims to achieve this by allowing inventors exclusive rights for a limited period to exploit their inventions, while at the same time promoting completion and innovation by ensuring that such inventions are fully disclosed to the public. He system is intended to balance the interests of the public with those of the inventors. Inventors have an interest is being rewarded for their effort, for example, by being able to recoup financial investments in research and development and to profit from their invention. Patent system is not created only in the interest of the inventors but also in interest of national economy. The rules and regulations of the patent system are not governed by civil or common law but political economy. While patents have been found to be significant in themselves as a component of the market value of companies, it is also true that companies use a wide variety of mechanisms to protect their IP. Indeed, in general, patents are ranked as less important in terms of value to the company than other mechanisms such as secrecy.
