Meaning of Patent

A patent can be defined as a form of intellectual property that grants the right to its owner to expel others from using, making, selling or importing the invention for a definite span of time, in exchange of releasing a sanctioning public acknowledgement of the creation.

In simple words, a patent is a secured invention or the special right given to an inventor by a government to manufacture, sell or use the invention for a defined number of years.

Patent Registration

In India, patent registration is applicable either with provisional or complete specification. It is a preliminary step where an applicant files the patent application where he/she feels that the invention has turned to reach such a stage wherein it can be disclosed on paper but has not attained its final stage. It is an option to secure and temporarily protect their invention in an inexpensive way until they decide to file the full patent application or an application with complete specification.

Provisional Patent

Provisional Patent has a pendency period of 12 months from the date of filling after which the inventor is required to file a complete specification in order to take advantage of provisional specifications. If the inventor fails to file the complete specification within the period of 12 months the patent application with provisional specification is deemed to be abandoned.

Points to be covered while Drafting Provisional Specification

• It should contain the title as well as the description of the invention
• It should start with a preamble “The following specification describes the invention”
• The second page should begin with the description of the invention beginning with the field of invention, background, object and statement of invention
• The applicant must provide as much as information which he/she may have at the time of filing of the application.
• Claims are not recorded under the provisional specification; they are covered under complete specification

Criteria For Patent Registration

In India, Patent laws are governed by the Indian Patent Act, 1970 which looks after the registration, renewal, transfer, and protection of patents in India. Following criteria must be fulfilled in order to identify the patentable article:-

• Patentable subject matter which is decided in accordance with section 3 or 4 of the Patent Act List.
• A novelty which means it should be a new invention with no same or similar prior arts. It should not have been published in a public domain.
• The step taken for registration must be an inventive step not obvious to a person skilled in the same file to which such invention relates.
• The invention must have a practical utility which means it should be capable of being applied in any industry.
• Claims are not recorded under the provisional specification; they are covered under complete specification.

Procedure for Filing a Patent Application

• • Documents Required
    It is always advisable to conduct a patent search in case of registration of any intellectual property right which will help the inventor or Patent Attorney to identify the novelty of the patent and its obviousness. It helps the inventor to draft the patent application in a better way and also to extend the scope of its invention which distinguishes it from the existing inventions.
  • Patent Drafting
    After conducting a patent search, the application is prepared in a techno-legal language known as specification i.e. either provisional or complete. The Provisional specification is always prepared without claims and the complete specification is prepared with claims. The inventions state the description of the invention beginning with the field of invention, background, object and statement of invention and best possible method to perform an invention which can be performed by the skilled person.
  • Patent Application Filing
    A Patent application is filed for obtaining a patent which can be either filed as a provisional application or a complete specification.

A Provisional specification is filed in order to obtain a priority date over other applications. An application is prepared according to the Indian Patent Act, 1970 consisting of a series of forms.

If the applicant opts for provisional specification a time period of 12 months is allowed to file a complete specification.

• • Patent Publication
    After completing the above-mentioned process, the application is published in an official journal after the expiry of 18 months from the date of filing or date of priority whichever is earlier. The Patent, when published in a journal, is open for objection (if any).
  • Patent Examination/Prosecution
    After publication, a request for examination is to be filed within 48 hours of filling date or date of priority whichever is earlier.

Thereafter, the patent examiner inspects the patent application and issues an examination report which contains a series of objections if any raised by the examiner.

Subsequently, to the result of the examination report, it has to be filed within 12 months from the issue of the examination report.

If the examiner thinks fit to call and conduct a hearing with the applicant or its agent this process is termed as Patent Prosecution.

• Granting The Patent
  If the examiner is satisfied with the response provided by the applicant or its agent, the application is put in order for grant and if the examiner is not satisfied with the reply and arguments then he may reject the same.