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CS Professional · Intellectual Property Rights - Law and Practice · Patent Databases and Patent Information System

After the examiner's search, Anand Industries obtains a patent. A competitor later finds prior art the examiner missed and argues the Government is liable because the examination and search report warranted validity. What does section 13 of the Patents Act, 1970 provide?

The argument fails. Section 13(4) says examination and investigation under sections 12 and 13 do not warrant the validity of any patent, and the Central Government and its officers incur no liability for them or any resulting report or proceedings.

  1. AThe Government is liable only for the loss of the competitor
  2. BThe search warrants validity because it covers documents from India and abroad
  3. CThe Government is liable if the examiner was negligent
  4. DThe examination and investigations do not warrant the validity of any patent, and no liability is incurred by the Central Government or its officers in connection with themCorrect

Explanation

Section 13(4) states that the examination and investigations under sections 12 and 13 are not deemed to warrant the validity of any patent, and the Central Government or its officers incur no liability in connection with them or any consequent report. So the competitor's argument fails.

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