What is the Procedure to File a Patent?
A patent filing procedure is a property right that a government agency grants to an inventor. In exchange for a detailed disclosure of the idea, this grant gives the inventor temporary exclusivity over the Indian Patent Registration method, design, or creation. They represent a kind of intangible right.
Applications for patent filing procedures are normally handled and approved by government organizations. Applications are processed, and approvals are given in the United States by the U.S. Patent Filing and Trademark Office (USPTO), which is a division of the Department of Commerce.
Steps Involved In Patent Registration
Patent Registration involves certain steps that the innovator needs to keep in mind before filing for the registration procedure:
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Conceiving One’s Invention
This is the initial step of the patent filing procedure for an innovator who wishes to move forward with their idea. It is crucial to gather the bulk of data all at once. What is the field of invention, what are the benefits, and how will it help to improve currently available solutions are some of the important issues that the inventor should take into account. Not every innovation qualifies as an Indian Patent Registration idea. Subject matters that cannot be patented are documented in Section 3 of the Patent Filing Act. Therefore, the inventor must be certain that the invention does not fit into any of those categories that are not patentable before coming up with it.
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Patent Search and Drafting
Firstly, the inventor must clarify the invention before conducting a search for patentability. This is crucial since it would clarify whether or not the invention is novel. According to the Patent Filing Procedure Act, all inventions must satisfy novelty requirements. After completing thorough research and creating a patentability report, opinions can finally be examined. An opinion about the patentability of the concerned invention can be phrased on the basis of the results of the patentability search, which may be positive, negative, or neutral. The patentability search determines the closest possible previous arts (known to the public) relevant to the invention. However, it is strongly advised to conduct a patentability check before simply filling out the application.
Effective patent filing procedure application drafting is the next action that comes after. The application is divided into various sections, including the claims, background, description, drawings, abstract, and summary. To effectively disclose the invention, each of these components must be carefully written. It is advised that the application be written with the utmost attention and accuracy.
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Filing the Patent Application
The actual Patent Filing procedure begins from here, which is summarized as follows:
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A patent application can be enrolled at the "Patent Office of Government" as per the application form in Form 1.
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A receipt with a patent application number would be generated.
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"Provisional Patent Application" can be filed in case of Invention is at an early stage under Form 2. The significance of the provisional application is one can secure a prior date for filing.
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Applicants for Start-Ups and small entities can avail of the application form in Form 28. Overall, 12 months would be allotted to the applicant for filing the complete specifications.
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From submitting the full specification, the application is published 18 months after the filing date. There is no need for the applicant to fulfil any unique requirements before publication. In case the applicant does not wish to wait until the 18-month period has passed, an early publication request may be made by submitting Form 9 along with the required costs.
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Rule 24A- Form 9 must be used to submit a request for publication under subsection (2) of Section 11A. Anyone may contest the award of an Indian Patent Registration through a pre-grant opposition after publication. According to Section 25(1) of the Indian Patent Filing Act of 1970, anybody may submit a written objection to the Controller opposing the issuance of an Indian patent registration on the grounds listed in Sections 25(1)(.) when a patent application has been published, but no Indian Patent Filing has been issued. Opposition before a grant is what this is called. The applicant must submit a response before the controller can decide whether to uphold the objection or reject the application on its merits and notify the applicant of the result.
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Request for Examination
The applicant must appeal to the patent office to examine the Indian Patent Filing application because,
as the publication is an automatic procedure, the examination is somewhat time-consuming.
According to Form 18, the standard request must be submitted within 48 months of the application's filing date. In response to such a request, the assigner assigns the application to an Indian Patent Filing examiner who reviews it for novelty, non-obviousness, inventive steps, and industrial applicability in order to determine whether it meets the requirements for patentability. The examiner then provides the applicant with the First Examination Report (FER). The applicant may also use Form 18A to request an expedited review of the application. Rule 24C states that- “An applicant may submit a Form 18A request for expedited examination along with the fee listed in the first schedule only by electronic transmission properly authenticated within the time frame specified in Rule 24B on any of the following grounds:(a) that India has been selected as an International Preliminary Examining Authority or designated as the appropriate International Searching Authority in the relevant International Application; or (b) that the International Preliminary Examining Authority has been designated as India”.
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Response to the Objections
The First Examination Report is where the applicant must respond to the objection of the Patent Office. The objection presented in the examination report is expected to receive a formal response from the applicant. The applicant may attempt to refute any objections by demonstrating the invention's patentability. One can ask for a physical hearing or a video conference, as appropriate.
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Grant of Patent
The application would be submitted for a grant once it was committed to meet all patentability conditions, after which the applicant would get the patent. A Patent Filing grant is announced in the Patent Filing journal, which is occasionally published. Here, your Patent filing procedure gets completed.
