Abstract
Things are not permanent, everything is temporary. But atleast, sometimes, some inventions are needed to be protected, not because it will fade, but because it might be stolen and sold. Not every person is the same, people always tend to make profits in possible easy methods, when it comes to inventions, these are things, which takes a lot of efforts, hard work, time, failure, and research. When a new invention is made, there are chances of it being stolen. To avoid such activities, the patents act was introduced, and this blog explores its scope.
Introduction
“Nullus Commodum Capere Potest De Injuria Sua Propria.”
The maxim says No man shall take advantage of his own wrong. This maxim seems to be very simple, but it carries deep meanings with it. When people around us, start enjoying their life, with the efforts of someone else, is that fair? Does that person deserves to live such a life? In my opinion, the answer is NO, we should live our lives beautifully, but it should be only with the things that is achieved by ourselves, it should not be because of someone else’s sweat.
Every day, is a new day. People around the world wake up with new expectations, new dreams, new thoughts and of course with new problems! Imagine, your mother prepared a new recipe for you, which was very delicious, but your wife presented it as her own recipe, and took all the credits. Will the mother accept this? Where there is problem, there is a solution and vice-versa. Have you ever thought of talking to someone beyond the seas, miles far away from us, high the mountains? Once, it was a dream, and today, it’s a reality, right? Once a new invention is invented, it can be protected, and no body can use that formulae or any such ‘inventions’, if it has got the patent. So, patents have some role, right? This blog explores the scope, limitations, how patents are issued and why it is important.
What is the Need for a Patent?
As we all know, with change in time, new technologies are developed, new inventions are created and the law too evolves with the changing time. Under section 2(m) of The Patents Act, 1970, patent is defined as the patent given for any inventions granted under the same act. If I’m a great scientist and I have great knowledge in the field of science and I invented a new medicine which can cure a brutal disease, and with excitement, I told this ingredients to someone else, but his crookedness worked, and the person to whom, I told it, released it’s ingredients and made billions out of it. Is this fair? No, right. So, to protect inventions from being stolen, the patent law comes into play.
Some Unseen People..!
People usually have a tendency to become famous, if it is possible in an easy way, by stealing the works of others, they won’t even hesitate to do. Have you ever heard of Margaret Knight? Yup, there was a lady named ‘Margaret Knight’, who was an American inventor, who invented more than 25 inventions and went over for patents, overcoming many challenges, like in the name that, she was a ‘woman’ she was being restricted and suppressed, even one of her greatest invention ‘a machine that put together the envelope style paper’, the idea was stolen by a man named Charles Annan, who worked in the same machine shop, where Margerat was making the machine, she came to know about it, when she applied for the patent of the machine, and she got rejected because Charles had already patented for himself!, but she moved to the court, the man’s main defence was ‘She was a woman, and a woman isn’t capable of making, anything like this.’ Do you think so? Woman incapable? Try to answer it yourself. Whether men tried to supress the women or innately women are so.
There is another inventor named Catherine Hettinger, you may not be much familiar with this name, but you all are familiar with what she made. Have you ever played with a spinner? The spinner, which was a global craze during the 2017s was Catherine’s invention. Sellers sold it, and made billions, but the inventor? She made ‘nothing’, she struggled to meet the basic needs and to make end meet! She once got patent on her product, but she had to drop it? Do you know why? She couldn’t bear the renewal fees for keeping the patent, so she simply just dropped it. Even though, having a patent of an invention, helps inventors to earn millions, but still there are people who can’t afford the patent renewal fees. So, the issue is others take this chance to make money, by stealing their ideas and models.
Why There is a Limited Year of Protection for Patent Rights?
People may think like. Oh why? Why only a limited year of patent protection is allowed, why it’s not allowed beyond that. Have you ever thought of it? Normally, patents are allowed for a time period of 20 years, where frequent renewals are done for maintaining the patent. If, a person fails to pay the renewal fees, his patent of the product gets suspended. This is imposed because, if a person keeps the patent over a thing for years, further development on that product may become impossible as the main objective of a product is, for the welfare of the society, and the patent is issued for the purpose that, no law should infringe a person’s right.
Conclusion
Through patent rights, first of all, people become more aware that, stealing the ideas of others is not the way of living. The right way of living is, if you want to make money through your inventions, invent it by ‘yourselves’ not steal the hard work of others. Through, the patent law, atleast people can protect their inventions from being stolen for a certain period of time, and can make profit out of it.
References
ILMS, ‘Nullus Commodum Capere Potest De Injuria Sua Propria Explained: Meaning, Case Law & Legal Doctrine’, (11 January 2025), Nullus Commodum Capere Potest De Injuria Sua Propria Explained: Meaning, Case Law & Legal Doctrine
The Patents Act, 1970
Smithsonian, ‘Margaret Knight Invented a Machine that Shapes the Way We Shop’, (5 March 2024), womenshistory.si.edu
Support the Guardian, ‘As fidget spinner craze goes global, its inventor struggles to make ends meet’, (5 May 2017), As fidget spinner craze goes global, its inventor struggles to make ends meet | Toys | The Guardian
Litton Legal, ‘Interesting Patent Stories’, Interesting Patent Stories – Litton Legal
LawBhoomi, ‘Intellectual Property Rights Notes’, (11 April 2026), [Intellectual Property Rights Notes]
