Draft Guideline for Examination of CRI, 2025: What Does it Mean for FOSS?

The Indian Patent Office issued the Draft Guideline for Examination of Compute Related Invention (CRI) 2025 for public and stakeholders consultation on 15 April 2025. The Deadline to submit comment or suggestion is 30 April 2025.

I intend to begin introducing the audience on the historical and legal developments that have shaped the current landscape between proprietary and open-source software. This context will set the stage for a discussion on why there is a friction in granting patents for software and try to establish why the patent system may not be the most suitable framework for software protection.

Following this, I will speak about the significance of the Computer Related Inventions (CRI) Guidelines as a source of determining the patentability of software in India. I will also touch upon the shortcomings of the previous versions of these guidelines.

After this, I will explain the major points in the current draft guidelines which has been issued by highlight their shortcomings. I will also examine whether this will have any impact on the free and open-source software (FOSS) ecosystem.

Finally, I will conclude by encouraging the audience to participate in the public consultation by sharing their comments to the Patent Office.

1. A basic understanding of the legal framework of software patents and how courts have dealt with them.

2. The Audience will have understand the major issues with software patents and why they are problematic if granted.

3. The importance and relevance of the Guideline for the Examination of CRI in the Indian patent system.

4. The impact of the Draft Guideline, 2025 on FOSS.