Section 3 – THE PATENTS ACT, 1970

—The following are not inventions within the meaning of this
Act,—
(a) an invention which is frivolous or which claims anything obviously contrary to well
established natural laws;
(b) an invention the primary or intended use or commercial exploitation of which could be
contrary to public order or morality or which causes serious prejudice to human, animal or
plant life or health or to the environment;
(c)the mere discovery of a scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory or
discovery of any living thing or non-living substance occurring in nature;
(d) the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the
enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or the mere discovery of any new
property or new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process,
machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at
least one new reactant.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, salts, esters, ethers, polymorphs,
metabolites, pure form, particle size, isomers, mixtures of isomers,
complexes, combinations and other derivatives of known substance
shall be considered to be the same substance, unless they differ
significantly in properties with regard to efficacy;
(e) a substance obtained by a mere admixture resulting only in the aggregation of the
properties of the components thereof or a process for producing such substance;
(f) the mere arrangement or re-arrangement or duplication of known devices each
functioning independently of one another in a known way;
(g) Omitted by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002
(h) a method of agriculture or horticulture;
(i) any process for the medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic diagnostic, therapeutic
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
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or other treatment of human beings or any process for a similar treatment of animals to
render them free of disease or to increase their economic value or that of their products.
(j) plants and animals in whole or any part thereof other than micro organisms but including
seeds, varieties and species and essentially biological processes for production or
propagation of plants and animals;
(k) a mathematical or business method or a computer programme per se or algorithms;
(l) a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation whatsoever
including cinematographic works and television productions;
(m) a mere scheme or rule or method of performing mental act or method of playing game;
(n) a presentation of information;
(o) topography of integrated circuits;
(p) an invention which in effect, is traditional knowledge or which is an aggregation or
duplication of known properties of traditionally known component or components.