Patent filing procedure in India

INTRODUCTION

What is patent?
A patent is a privilege granted for an invention. Patent is
only for a product or a method that usually provides a new manner
of doing something, or provides a new technical solution to a
problem to induce a patent, technical information regarding the
invention should be disclosed to the general public in a patent
application.
Patents are a right granted to an inventor that allows them
to exclude all others from making, using, or selling their invention
for 20 years.
 Patent types
There are three major types of patents

Design patents Utility patents Plant patents

1. Design patents :anyone who creates a new design for a product can
apply for a design patent. Examples include beverage bottles (think
of the shape of the Coca-Cola container) or furniture.
2. Plant patents – Grafting and creating new hybrid plant forms can
apply for a plant patent.
3. Utility patents – anyone who invents or discovers “any new and
useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof ” can apply for a
utility patent.
 Patent filing procedure in India
Eligibility to file a patent application

1. By any person claiming to be the true and first inventor of the

invention.
2. By any person being the assignee of the person claiming to be the
true and first inventor in respect of the right to make such an
application.
3. By the legal representative of any deceased person who
immediately before his death was entitled to make such an
application.
4. By the legal representative of the true or first inventor, with power
of authority signed by the inventor.
 Procedure for filing a Patent application in India

A patent application can be filed with Indian Patent office with branch
offices located in Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. The head office is in
Kolkata. The applicant can file the Patent application through e-filing or in
the hard copy format.
The Patent Office charges an additional 10% fee on filing the application
in physical mode or as hard copy. The application generally is prepared by
preparing forms (Form-1, Form-2, Form-3, and Form-5) with their
respective fees as per the Indian Patent Act.
The Indian Patent office has revised the government fees of forms for a
natural person and legal entity both. And, a separate applicant called as the
“small entity” has been introduced as a third category of applicant.
 Patent Registration in India – Procedure

The complete patent registration process involves a series of

steps which are to be mandatorily followed to get a patent in
India.

1. Checking the patentability of the invention by performing a

search
2. Drafting of patent application
3. Filing the patent application in India
4. Publication of patent application
5. Examining of patent application
6. Grant of patent
7. Rules to keep in mind while filing the patent application
Checking the patentability of the invention by performing a
search

Before filing a patent application in India, one should perform a

detailed patentability search to determine whether a patent for it will
be available or not.
 Drafting of patent application
1. Once the search is complete and through, the next step involved is to
prepare an application form in form 1.
2. Each application has to be accompanied by a patent specification.
This has to be prepared in form 2 where one has to provide the
complete or provisional specification depending upon the state of the
invention(Whether its partially completed or completed). In case one
files a provisional application, a time gap of 12 months is provided
to finalize the invention and file the complete application.
3. A patent draft will also be required to be submitted along with the
application. The patent draft is considered a very important document
as the same will be used by the patent office in deciding whether or
not patent should be granted.
 Filing the patent application in India
No Stages of the patent process FormNo
1 Application for grant of patent Form 1
2 Provisional/complete specification Form 2
3 Statement and undertaking under section 8 (this is only required Form 3
where a patent application is already filed in the country other than
India)

4 Declaration as to inventor ship Form 5

5 Request for publication (If express publication is desired) Form 9

6 Form for authorization of patent agent /or any person in a Form 26

matter or proceeding under the act
7 Forms submitted only by start-ups and small entities Form 28
 Publication of patent application

Patent application filed with the Indian patent office will be

published in the official patent journal. This is generally done after
18 months of filing the application.
In case one wants to get it published earlier, he can make a request
in Form 9 for early publication. When a restriction is placed by the
Indian patent act with regards to the publishing of the patent, the same
will not be published in the journal.
 Examining of patent application
Every application filed for protection will be examined before a patent
is finally granted.
The application has to be made for examination in form 18. The earlier
one makes a request, the earlier the application will be examined by
the examiner.
Once the application is filed, it is transferred to the patent officer who
will examine the application to ensure the same is in accordance with
the patent act and rules.
A thorough search is conducted by the officer where he/she analyses
the relevant technology in depth and the objections, if any, will be
communicated. The report issued in this case is called the First
Examination Report(FER).
 Grant of patent

The patent is granted once all the objections raised by the officer
are resolved.
Patent Registration in India - Process and Timeline