- What is Patent?
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
It gives an inventor of a particular thing, the exclusive right to make, use and sell his or her creation for a specified period of time.
- What inventions are patentable?
For any asset or an invention to qualify for a patent, it must meet three basic requirements:
- It must be novel and one of its kinds. This means that the particular invention must be new and there should not be any existential trace of it
- It must be unique in An improvement in the current technology by an individual cannot be patented
- It must be useful. It should add value to the life of the common man and it must not benefit or support the use of illegal things or must not be used for any immoral purpose
Some types of inventions (or discoveries) like Issac Newton’s law of gravity or Albert Einstein’s formula for relativity do not qualify to for this. Simply put, no one can obtain a patent on a law of nature or any scientific principle.
- What inventions are non-patentable?
Even though the idea of a patent is to safeguard the maker’s creation, there are certain things that do not qualify for this according to the Indian law (section 3 and 5 of Indian Patents Act, 1970):
- Benefits of getting a patent
- Prevents theft of your invention
- The freedom of exclusivity
- Easy to build a merchandise and commercialize
- Higher market share since your idea becomes a brand
- More monetary value and higher profit margin
- Who can file a patent application?
A patent registration application for an invention can be made by any of the following people either alone or jointly with any other person:
- The true and first inventor
- True and first inventor’s assignee
- The representative of the deceased true and first inventor his / her assignee
According to the Patent Act, a “person” is any natural person, company, or association or body of individuals or government body, whether incorporated or not.
In the case of a proprietorship firm, the application should be made in the proprietors’ name.
In partnership firms, the names of all personally responsible partners must be included in the patent application.
An assignee can also be a natural person or other than a legal person such as a registered company, an LLP, Section 8 Company, an educational institute, or government.
The applicant is required to disclose the name, address, and nationality of the true and first inventor.
- At what stage the inventor should apply for Patent?
A patent application should be filed at the stage of the invention when there are substantial details pertaining to the working of the invention.
- Can I publicly disclose my invention before filing a Patent?
It is not advisable to publicly disclose the invention before filing a patent application. If the invention is publicly disclosed before filing a patent application, the public disclosure will be considered as prior art during examination of the patent application.
- Types of patent application in India
Provisional application – Also known as a temporary application, a provisional application is filed when an invention is still in the pipeline and has not been finalized. Early filing of a patent will prevent any other related inventions from being designated as prior art to the inventor’s application.
This type of patent application is filed when an invention requires additional time for development.
Ordinary or Non-Provisional application – This type of application does not have any priority to claim or if the application is not filed in pursuance of any preceding convention application. A complete specification can be filed through:
Direct Filing: Wherein complete specification is initially filed with the Indian Patent Office without filing any corresponding provisional specification.
Subsequent Filing: Wherein complete specification is filed after the filing of the corresponding provisional specification and claiming priority from the filed provisional specification.
Convention application – The convention application is filed for claiming a priority date based on the same or similar application filed in any of the convention countries.
To avail a status of the convention, an applicant must apply to the Indian Patent Office within a year from the date of the initial filing of a similar application in the convention country.
To re-iterate in simpler terms, a convention application entitles the applicant to claim priority in all the convention countries.
PCT international application – Though the PCT international application does not provide an international patent grant, it paves the way for the streamlined patent application process in many countries at one go.
The Patent Corporation Treaty governs it and can be validated in up to 142 countries. Filing this application will protect an invention from being replicated in these countries.
PCT National application – This application is filed if the applicant discovers that he has come across an invention, a slight modification of the invention that has already been applied for or patented by the applicant. PCT National application can be filed if the invention does not involve a substantial inventive step.
Divisional application – An applicant may choose to divide an application and furnish two or more applications if a particular application claims more than one invention. The priority date for these applications is similar to that of the parent application.
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