Patent Agent Exam 2011: Answer Key

It is quite surprising that the answers to the Patent Agent exam 2011 is out. We  need to evaluate the answers before reaching to the conclusion. It my request to all the persons of the forum to kindly evaluate the answers as published and let others know the possibility of the correctness of the answer key.

I am sorry, there were some pages missing, herewith I am attaching the complete objective paper of Paper  along with answer key of Indian Patent Agent 2011.

I m in agreement with the answer key provided. There are certain questions which are bit confusing like q2 & q3 in True or False segment.

Piyush – my quick answers to q2 and q3.  I will however need to read all of the questions.

Q2 Any indian resident can file a patent in any SAARC country before filing it in India – False (Indian resident cannot file for a patent in other country before filing in India. He may however file in other countries with prior permission from controller. Sec 39)

Q2 A pre grant opposition has to be filed within six months of the publication of the invention by the patent office – False (it can be filed any time before the grant of patent Sec 25(1)

Samir - can you also post the part-B of paper-I as well as paper-II

To Sy:

Please read Q 2 properly;

Q2 Any indian resident can file a patent in any SAARC country before filing it in India.

What i feel, The Word  can file includes Sec 39, therefore the answer should be TRUE.

If in question it would have been should rather than can, then answer could have been FALSE.

Litigantxyz

Thanks for the clarification. Yes I agree with you.  'Can file' also include India which is one of the SAARC countries. But it also says 'any SAARC' country, which also includes other SAARC countries too? ‘Can file’ should be read combined with India only or with other SAARC countries? In the first case answer would be true and in the latter it would be false. What is the best way to construct this question?

Litigantxyz - the question also says "before filing it in India". So is it not proper to exclude India from "any SAARC country"?

I thought over the question again and adding to my two earlier observations (@10:02 am and @ 11:27 am), I have the following to say.

‘Can’ denotes uncertainty, the possibility of an event happening or the possibility that an event may not happen. ‘Any’ includes one or some or all without any specification. The certainty or its lack [of filing patent application] should equally apply to every SAARC country. Either you should be allowed to file application in every SAARC country or not.

Since it says “any SAARC country” it should include all SAARC countries as there does not [and should not] include any exception or limitation with the use of word “any”. But understanding it from the point of view of our friend litigantxyz, there arises an inherent limitation or exception in the question because what applies to other SAARC countries does not apply to one of the SAARC country i.e., India. This will give inconsistent meaning to the word “any”, which grammatically speaking, should not be read with any limitations or exceptions. If you look at the question, it further reads “before filing it in India”, and what would justify the presence of this phrase?

So in my opinion the better way to read this question is:

Any Indian resident can file a patent in any [all SAARC countries, except India] SAARC country before filing it in India. (I believe the phrase “before filing it in India” was deliberately inserted to allow the reader to exclude India from the purview of “any SAARC country”). The affect would be finding the statement FALSE.

It would be interesting to know how our other friends understands this query. I would be glad if my interpretation is found flawed. This will give me an opportunity to know a different perspective! In any case we learn!

Paper I has some very ambiguous questions. e.g

Q 14 Would the term 'anyone' include the applicant also? If yes, then option (c) is correct, if no then only (a) wouldbe correct?

Also, how would you construe the instruct regarding the partial correct answer.

Eg:

If option (e) all of the above is correct & someone is confident of marking options (a) & (b) alone, both ofcourse partially correct. Then would they get partial marks as per the instructions.

please upload paper II also

Now there are several Grammtical errors in the Question paper where in Legally speaking you can specially exclude or include the answers of your choice.

then how the answers sheets should be evaluated remains the prime concern.

True & False Section. Question 10-  Legal represntative- now i didnt got what the IPO is trying to ask. whether they wanted to know who is legal represntative or who were entitled before( as the Patent Act specially provides for it) or what.  now if we construe the question like this- Under the Indian Trust act can it be Legal Representative or what about if there existed any will of the person. then what?

However answer i feel is True and can be construed as T/F as well, depends on whose side are u representing in.

Any idea when is the next exam

hello all

this appears quite a good forum where the question is bisected, disected analysed and answered. this is a very good . some very relevant analyses have been made. the joy of learning is evident

i am enlightened

thanks a ton

drafting is the critical part for patent agent exam.can anyone pls solve the 2011 II paper of indian patent agent exam?