Industry is of the opinion that by becoming members of the convention, Indian companies will not only get time advantage over their competitors but also save on the prohibitive cost required for filing patents in many countries.

``Time is money when it comes to patents as the labourious and lengthy process of filing several sets of applications in each country separately will not be required anymore,'' said a Confederation of Indian Industry official.

India, which became the 151st nation to become member of the Paris Convention also becomes member of the Patents Cooperation Treaty (PCT). By becoming a PCT member, Indian companies will be able to file for patents through a single window. "With cost of filing multiple patents reduced, Indiancompanies should get encouraged to undertake more research and file for more patents," said an official of another leading industry association.

However, the industry has expressed its reservation over the legal framework required for the patents regime to effectively operate. "Indian companies will not benefit much unless there is a framework, like the much awaited Patent Act (amendment) Bill in place," said a senior executive of a leading Indian corporate.

"But let us not forget that the real success will depend on whether each signatory has a well-defined and developed patents regime in place, otherwise the companies applying for patents in certain countries might suffer," added the CII official. He cited India's own example as a case in point. Membership of the Paris Convention and PCT will also be advantageous to India in terms of multilateral cooperation, international trade, foreign investment and technology transfer.

Under PCT, the applications will be directly acknowledged and will be validacross all signatory countries. Thus, corporates applying for a patent in any of the PCT signatory country will automatically become eligible for a patent in the countries of their choice once its application is approved.

As per the PCT guidelines, any company which applies for a patent gets the patent on the same date when it filed for the patent, irrespective of the time it takes to process the application.

The domestic pharmaceutical industry, which has registered a cumulative annual growth rate of 17 per cent for the last few years will gain tremendously if a suitable legal framework is brought in.