Patenting of nanotechnology invention: Issues and challenges in India

Nanotechnology is the engineering of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules where size is measured in billionth of a meter (i.e., one nanometer = one-billionth of a meter). Nanotechnology encompasses a vast field, which includes a range of technologies at the nano scale, such as, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, genomics, neuroscience, robotics and information technologies, among others. In India, nanotechnology is particularly important in the nanobiotech and nanomedicine fields. The development of nanotechnology in India has raised a series of questions and challenges in terms of intellectual property protection. Given the importance and economic potential of nanotechnology inventions, it is of immense importance to critically explore whether the Indian Patent System presents a suitable atmosphere for patent protection in India.