Question:medium

What are the types of inventions which are no patentable in India?

Updated On: Jul 13, 2026
  • invention which is frivolous or which claims anything obviously contrary to well established natural laws;
  • 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;
  • the mere discovery of scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory or discovery of any living thing or non-living substance occurring in nature
  • All the above
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

Section 3 of the Patents Act, 1970 lists everything that Indian law refuses to treat as a patentable invention. This question strings together three of those clauses and asks which are genuine exclusions, so the fastest way to answer is to check each clause against the actual text of Section 3.

  1. Frivolous or contrary to natural laws: this is Section 3(a), it blocks patents for claims that are frivolous or that defy settled natural laws, such as a claimed perpetual motion machine.
  2. Contrary to public order, morality, or harmful to life, health or environment: this is Section 3(b), aimed at inventions whose use would offend public morality or seriously harm humans, animals, plants or the environment.
  3. Mere discovery of a scientific principle, abstract theory, or a naturally occurring substance: discoveries of nature are not inventions because nothing new has been created, only found, so the Act excludes them too.
  4. All the above: since each of the three statements above is a real, distinct clause of Section 3, they all belong together as valid grounds of non-patentability.

Let's summarize:

  • Section 3 of the Patents Act lists several categories of non-patentable subject matter.
  • Frivolous inventions, morally objectionable inventions, and mere discoveries of nature are three separate but equally valid categories under that section.

Because all three statements are genuine exclusions, the answer is All the above.

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