JUDGMENT :

(Prayer : This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is filed under Section 117-A of the Patents Act, 1970, praying that (1) the present appeal be allowed; (2) the impugned order of the learned Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs dated 28.02.2017 rejecting the Patent Application 650/CHENP/2009 be set aside; (3) this Court may be pleased to hold that claimed invention in the present case is patentable subject matter, novel and involves inventive step; and (4) this Court may be pleased to direct the Controller to grant the patent and publish the grant in the journal.)

Background

1. This appeal is directed against the order dated 28.02.2017 rejecting Patent Application No.650/CHENP/2009, which was filed on 04.02.2009. The appellant filed the above mentioned application, as the national phase application derived from PCT application dated 06.08.2007, by claiming priority from 07.08.2006 for grant of patent for an invention titled “Enzyme Granules for Animal Feed”.

2. Upon submitting the request for examination on 20.07.2010, the respondent issued the First Examination Report (FER) on 23.01.2014. In the FER, objections were raised on the grounds that the claims do not qualify as an in