Downloads: 10
Research Paper | Law | Volume 15 Issue 1, January 2026 | Pages: 1444 - 1449 | India
Demystifying Inventive Step in Computer-Related Inventions: A Critical Analysis of India's Draft CRI Guidelines 2025
Abstract: The discovery of novel undertakings in the computer-related inventions (CRIs) has always been a major challenge especially in the Indian scenario where the safeguarding regime is claimed by the Patents Act of 1970, specifically, the Section 3(k). The natural ambiguity of the technical contribution of such inventions has resulted in different testing standards and has subsequently curtailed the coverage of the protection of digital technologies, software, and artificial intelligence inventions. To work in line with the emerging jurisprudential trends and the fast paced technological advancements, the Indian Patent Office released the Draft CRI Guidelines of 2025. The current paper is a critical review of the draft guidelines where the legal and procedural framework of identifying inventive steps in CRIs is intended to be clarified. It discusses the use of judicial precedent like the case of Ferid Allani v. Lava and Union of India and Ericsson, and examines the proposed structured examination system, which includes the seven stambhas, and the five-step test of innovative step. The study outlines the benefits of the new method and its drawbacks as compared to the 2025 draft to previous guidelines and global standards. Respecting the progressiveness of the draft, the study recognises that harmonisation and transparency require practice and training of the examiners. It also speculates on what this means to the policy of innovation, the availability of safeguarding that is given to startups, and the competitiveness of the Indian digital economy globally.
Keywords: Computer-Related Inventions (CRIs), Legal structure, Procedural structure, judicial case law
How to Cite?: Jyoti Sain Dass, "Demystifying Inventive Step in Computer-Related Inventions: A Critical Analysis of India's Draft CRI Guidelines 2025", Volume 15 Issue 1, January 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1444-1449, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26122192239, DOI: https://dx.dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26122192239