Asean Saarc Patent & Trademark Services
Asean Saarc Patent & Trademark Services
Patent is the Right of exclusivity given to inventor of technology
– The Patent Act, 1970
– The Patent Rules, 2003
– Encouragement of innovation
– Legal protection
– Strategic business advantage
Partner with India’s trusted IP attorneys to secure and maximize the value of your innovations and brand assets.
1. What is a patent?
A patent is a statutory right granted by the government that gives an inventor exclusive rights to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing an invention for a limited period. Patents are granted only for inventions that are new, involve an inventive step, and are capable of industrial application.
2. When should a patent application be filed?
A patent application should be filed as early as possible. Any delay may result in loss of priority, especially if a third party files an application for the same invention earlier.
3. Why are patents important?
Patents encourage innovation by allowing inventors to commercially exploit their inventions for 20 years from the filing date, subject to payment of annual fees. In return, the inventor must fully disclose the invention, after which it enters the public domain upon expiry.
4. What inventions are patentable?
An invention is patentable if it meets three key criteria: it must be novel, involve an inventive step (non-obvious to a skilled person), and be useful or capable of industrial application.
5. What is not patentable?
Certain inventions may be excluded from patentability under national laws, including those that offend public order or morality, even if they otherwise meet patentability requirements.
6. What is the term of a patent in the Indian system?
The term of every patent granted is 20 years from the date of filing of application. However, for application filed under national phase under Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the term of patent will be 20 years from the international filing date accorded under PCT.
7. What are the criteria of patentability?
An invention is patentable subject matter if it meets the following criteria –
i) It should be novel.
ii) It should have inventive step.
iii) It should be capable of Industrial application.
iv) It should not attract the provisions of section 3 and 4 of the Patents Act 1970.
8. When should an application for a patent be filed?
An application for a patent can be filed at the earliest possible date and should not be delayed. An application filed with provisional specification, disclosing the essence of the nature of the invention helps to register the priority of the invention. Delay in filing an application may entail some risks such as (i) some other inventor may file a patent application on the said invention and (ii) there may be either an inadvertent publication of the invention by the inventor himself/herself or by others independently of him/her.
9. Does the Patent Office keep information of the invention secret?
Yes. All the patent applications are kept secret upto publication of the application in the Official Journal of the Patent Office, which is published every week and also available on the IPO website. After its publication, public can inspect the documents and also may take the photocopy thereof on payment of the fee as prescribed.
10. Where can one find the information relating to published / granted patent application?
The information relating to the patent application is published in the Patent office Journal issued on every Friday. This is also available in electronic form on the website of the Patent Office, www.ipindia.gov.in
11. How can I apply for a patent?
A patent application can be filed with Indian Patent Office either with provisional specification or with complete specification along with fee as prescribed in schedule I. In case the application is filed with provisional specification, then one has to file complete
specification within 12 months from the date of filing of the provisional specification. There is no further extension of time to file complete specification after expiry of said period.
12. How can one register for online filing of patent application?
To register for filing of patent application, the applicant can use DSC or E-sign as per their conveniences. If user wants to use DSC then the user is required to obtain the Class II/III digital signature without Encryption from the authorized vendors and the list of vendors is given in below table. User can visit the E-filing website where the whole information is available. These are the website links for the information about
a) Regarding information for use of DSC is available Digital Signature (https://ipronline.ipindia.gov.in/epatentfiling/Extras/Digital_Signatures_Information.aspx )
13. Is there any jurisdiction for filing patent application in India?
Yes, India has four patent offices located at Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. Each office has a separate territorial jurisdiction. The appropriate office for all proceedings including filing of the application depends normally where the applicant/first mentioned applicant resides/has domicile/has place of business/has origin of invention. In case of foreign applicants, it depends on the address for service in India given by such applicant.
14. When can an applicant withdraw patent application in India?
An applicant can withdraw the application any time before the grant of patent by making a request. There is no fee for withdrawing the application. The applicant has to file form 29 for withdrawal of application. If a request for the withdrawal of the application is filed within 15 months of the date of filing or date of priority, whichever is earlier, the application will not be published and be treated as withdrawn. If an application is withdrawn before the issuance of the First Examination Report a refund of up to 90% of examination fees can be claimed.
15. What are the types of applications?
The types of applications that can be filed are:
A) ORDINARY APPLICATION
An application for patent filed in the Patent Office without claiming any priority either in a convention country or without any reference to any other earlier application under process in the office. Such type of application is known an ordinary application.
Ordinary application can be filed by way of filing
(i) Provisional specification: Indian Patent Law follows first to file system. A provisional specification can be filed if the invention is still under experimentation stage. Filing a provisional specification provides the advantage to the inventor since it helps in establishing a priority date of the invention. Further, the inventor gets 12 months’ time to fully develop the invention and ascertain its market potential and to file the complete specification.
(ii) Complete specification: An applicant may directly file the complete specification if the invention is fully developed.
B) CONVENTION APPLICATION
An application for patent filed in the Patent Office, claiming a priority date based on the same or substantially similar application filed in one or more of the convention countries is known as a convention application. In order to get convention status, an applicant should file the application in the Indian Patent Office within 12 months from the date of first filing of a similar application in the convention country.
C) PCT INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION
An Application filed in India as Receiving Office (RO) under Patent Cooperation Treaty is an international application which can be considered as deemed filed in more than 150 countries (member of PCT) by a single application.
D) PCT NATIONAL PHASE APPLICATION
When an international application is made according to PCT designating India, an applicant can file the national phase application in India within 31 months from the international filing date or the priority date, whichever is earlier.
E) PATENT OF ADDITION
where an application is made for a patent in respect of any improvement in or modification of an invention described or disclosed in the complete specification filed therefor for which he has already applied for or has obtained patent, the applicant can go for patent of addition if the improvement or modification in the invention is new. One of the benefits of filing patent of addition is that there no need to pay separate renewal fee for the patent of addition during the term of the main patent and it expires along with the main patent.
F) DIVISIONAL APPLICATION
When an application claims more than one invention, the applicant on his own or to meet the official objection on the ground of plurality or distinct invention may divide the application and file a further application, as the case may be for each of the inventions. This type of application, divided out of the parent one, is known as a Divisional Application. The priority date for all the divisional applications will be same as that of the main (the Parent) Application (Ante-dating).