Key terms Patent Act Term#11: Parallel Import

1. Term #11
Parallel Import
U/S 107B
Key Terms of Indian Patents Act
Ms Bindu Sharma, Founder & CEOSpeaker
Indian Patents Act 1970

2. Exhaustion of Rights
Principle whereby the right
holders’ IP rights in respect of a
product are considered exhausted
(i.e. he no longer can exercise any
rights) when that product has
been put on the market by the IP
holder, or by an authorized party.

3. Exhaustion doctrine
or first sale doctrine
After a patented product has
been sold by the patentee or by
others with the consent of the
patentee, the IP right is said to
be exhausted. It can no longer
be exercised by the owner.

4. Illustration
If an inventor obtains a patent on a
new kind of pen, the inventor can
legally prohibit other companies
from making and selling this kind of
pen, but can not prohibit customers
who have bought this pen from the
patent owner from reselling the pen
to third parties.

5. U/S 107A, Certain acts not to
be considered as infringement
• Importation of patented products by any
person from a person, who is duly
authorized under the law to produce and
sell or distribute the product, shall not be
considered as an infringement of patent
rights.
• Parallel Import

6. Parallel import
• Importation of patented products
by any person authorized by the
Patentee will not be considered as
an infringement.
• Therefore, it is possible to import
the patented products from the
licensee of the patentee in any
country without the permission of
the Patentee.

7. Parallel import
The purpose of Parallel import
is to check the abuse of patent
rights and to control the price
of patented product by taking
away the monopolistic power
of the patent holder.

8. Parallel Import
Parallel import (also called grey
market imports) is not unauthorized,
unofficial or illegal sale, nor it the
sale of pirated and counterfeited
products, rather parallel imports are
genuine, often branded, products
that do not violate an IP right and
legal in most of the nations.

9. Rights of a patent
holder
Prevent third party from making,
using, selling, offering for sale or
importing the patented item in
the territory where there is
patent protection.

10. Patentee
Licensee
Authorized by Patentee

11. Question
10. According to Section 107(A), if a
patented product is imported by
_______ will not considered as
infringement.
a. Patentee
b. Any person authorized by Patentee
c. Licensee
d. Defendant

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