Question:medium

The _____ Amendment to the Patents Act stated that “computer programs per se” is not an “invention” - raising a debate whether a computer program ("CP") with any additional features such as technical features, would be patentable.

Updated On: Jul 13, 2026
  • 2000
  • 1999
  • 2001
  • 2002
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

This is a legislative-history question about India's Patents Act. India amended the Act three times to align with the TRIPS Agreement: 1999, 2002 and 2005. Each amendment had a distinct purpose, and remembering what each one did is the fastest way to pick the right year here.

  1. 2000: no Patents Act amendment was passed in this year.
  2. 1999: this amendment set up the mailbox facility for pharmaceutical and agrochemical patent applications and provided exclusive marketing rights, a step to satisfy TRIPS obligations for those two industries. It did not deal with computer programs.
  3. 2001: no amendment was passed in this year either.
  4. 2002: this amendment substituted Section 3 of the Patents Act, adding "computer programme per se" to the list of things that are not inventions. Because the word "per se" leaves room for programs that show a technical effect or work with novel hardware, this single amendment is the direct source of the ongoing patentability debate the question describes.

Let's summarize:

  • 1999: mailbox and exclusive marketing rights for pharma and agrochemical products.
  • 2002: rewrote the non-patentable subject matter list, including the computer programme per se exclusion.
  • 2005: extended product patents to all fields of technology, including pharmaceuticals.

The amendment being asked about is the 2002 Patents (Amendment) Act.

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