PATENT INFRINGEMENT IN THE DIGITAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ERA

AUTHOR – NANDHITHA R DINESH, STUDENT AT AMITY UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – NANDHITHA R DINESH, PATENT INFRINGEMENT IN THE DIGITAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ERA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (6) OF 2026, PG. 500-512, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I6452

ABSTRACT

The patent situation related to digital technologies in India has experienced an unprecedented boom, with more than 86,000 artificial intelligence-related applications being registered between 2010 and 2025. However, the grant rate still is only 0.37 which underlines the sheer doctrinal barriers that are set by the Section 3(k) of the Patents Act, 1970. In the current study, systemic failures of the patent infringement system in India are analyzed regarding AI systems, software, and Internet of Things innovations through the concept of a three-pronged crisis: the incompatibility of the doctrine, the insufficiency of the enforcement, the lack of institutions.^[1][2]

The study develops a detailed reform agenda through the analysis of its doctrines, the comparison between the United States and ESuropean Union models, and normative analysis of the case law such as Idemia India v. Controller General of Patents, BlackBerry Limited v. Controller of Patents and Designs, ANI Media Pvt. Ltd. v. OpenAI Inc., and Arijit Singh v. Codifiable Ventures LLP^[3]. The suggestions include legislative change to Section 3(k), codification of indirect infringement principles, technical discovery processes, specialist IP courts, compulsory AI watermarking criteria, and increased international interactions. The main argument is that gradual judicial change is not enough and that a specific legislative intervention is possible and even needed.