Patent is a form of intellectual property right granted and protected by law. It offers protection on creative work for a certain period of time. The word "Patent" refers to a monopoly right to an invention. A patent is the grant of a right, privilege, or authority over an invention. In a sense, it is a limited monopoly granted by the state under a law in exchange for the disclosure of technical information. The law relating to patents in India is governed by the Patents Act 1970.1.2.1 Definition of PatentThe word "Patent" implies openness and accessibility. The term patent comes from the Latin term literae patentes which means "open letters". The Patent Act defines patent as a patent for any invention granted under the Act. An invention may concern a new product or process. A patent gives the holder a set of rights for a limited period which includes the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention into India. This limited monopoly can be exercised for a period of 20 years, after which anyone can exploit the rights held by the patent holder.1.2.2 Purpose of the grant of the patentThe grant of a patent confers the benefit of exclusivity on the inventor for a limited period of time, upon expiry of which the benefit of the accessibility of the invention is open to the general public. The underlying purpose of the patent system is to encourage improvement and innovation. Therefore the purpose of granting a patent is not only to reward the inventor but also to encourage public disclosure of inventions. In the case of Bishwanath Prasad Radhey Shyam v. Hindustan Metal Industries, Justice Sarkaria detailed the purpose of patent law: The subject matter of the patent The... in the middle of the paper... e.g.: (1) branded companies which are usually multinational in their business and (2) generic companies that are smaller in comparison and produce off-patent bulk drugs. 1.3.2 Process patent and product patent The fact that pharmaceutical products were inevitably considered as part of public health led many countries to provide particular regulations for them. Some countries that granted product patents for ordinary inventions only allowed process patents for pharmaceutical products. Even India, until 2005, only granted process patents for pharmaceutical substances. This allowed Indian manufacturers to create copies of drugs patented elsewhere by discovering their constituents through reverse engineering. The distinction between product patent and process patent is believed to have been instrumental in the success of the pharmaceutical industry in India.