INDIA: INDIAN PATENT OFFICE PROVIDES CLARIFICATION PERTAINING TO FILING OF POWER OF ATTORNEY AND PRO

On November 26, 2019, the Indian Patent Office released revised Manual of Patent Office Practice Procedure, wherein following clarification with respect to filing of Power of Attorney and Proof of Right [Form-1] regarding divisional applications has been provided:

i) Power of Attorney: If Power of Attorney filed in the parent application expressly provides authorization to the agents of the Applicant to file divisional application(s), there is no requirement of filing a copy of Power of Attorney in the divisional application(s).

ii) Proof of Right [Form-1]: If the requirement of Proof of Right is met in the parent application, there is no requirement of filing the same in the divisional application(s).

As filing of Power of Attorney and Proof of Right both have an associated deadline, this move by the Indian Patent Office would certainly reduce the burden of submitting these formal documents.