The Madras High Court has held that, IIT Madras method of doping potassium into ammonium perchlorate lacks an inventive step and therefore not eligible for patent.
This method is used for increasing the burn rates in solid propellants that are used in space and defence applications.
The claimed invention employs the dissolution, filtration, heating, drying and reheating.
So, it was not patentable since the processes were well known and they do not result in a new product.