ENZYME PATENTING – AN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE

Enzymes and enzyme technology is a well-established branch of Science, which has broader applications in both research and Industries. Identifying a particular enzyme for the specific product development is of great concern in patenting. Patenting of enzymes in India from the past two decades is needed to be studied to understand the current status of enzyme patenting and product development. The process of reviewing the enzyme related patents could generate the information over enzyme patenting and its corresponding product development in India. The current attempt includes the study of around 150 enzyme related patent’s information from Indian context. Even though, the patenting process in enzymes has been started in 1933, it is found that, in between 1995 to 2015, over a period of 20 years there are only 58 patents were registered in relation to enzyme technology. This indicates that, there is a necessity to understand the concept of patenting and why enzyme technology is not able to patent more, even in the availability of advanced technologies. The current study focuses on the reasons, problems and suggestions related to patenting enzymes in Indian context.