Patent Application

Leezer Kaur
Apr 8, 2023
3 min read

“Written by Leezer Kaur, a 3rd-year student at Army Institute of Law, Mohali”

Introduction

A Patent is an exclusive right given to an individual, for a new invention or for providing a technical solution to a problem. A Patent application refers to legal and administrative proceedings pending in a patent office, for the grant of a patent for an invention. A Patent application comes to an end as soon as the patent is granted to the person seeking it.

Patent Application

To file a patent application in India, the inventor is supposed to submit the information like name and details of the applicant and the inventors, the title of the invention, the description of the invention, etc., and is supposed to submit a prescribed fee to the Patent office to which he is applying. He is also required to sign a few undertakings and declarations that the product for which he is claiming the patent is his new invention and he has complied with all the provisions under the Patents Act, of 1970.

When a patent application is filed with the Indian Patent Office, it is published in the official patent journal within eighteen months of the date of application. In case a person wants to get it published early, then he is supposed to request the same. Then, the patent applications are examined to ensure that it complies with the rules and regulations provided under the act. Further, a First Examination Report is issued. If any objections are raised then the person asking for the patent is called to resolve the objections. After that, a patent is granted to that person concerning that invention.

Based on the geographic scope, the patent applications can be classified into the following types:

NATIONAL APPLICATIONS: These are filed at the national patent office to obtain a patent in the country. It may be directly filed or may result from a regional application.
REGIONAL APPLICATION: A Regional application is filed with the regional office. For example -, the European Patent Office grants patents to all countries under the European Patent Convention.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS: The Patent Cooperation Treaty is a central application process operated by the World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO), but it does not grant patents. It is mainly a medium to obtain a patent in a wide range of countries.

Types of Patent Applications

The patent applications may be divided into the following types:

Standard application
Provisional application
Continuation application
Divisional application

Particulars to be Provided in a Patent Application

A patent application may provide for the following particulars:

It must specify the invention for which a patent is sought. It must specify the background and overview of the invention and the scope of protection.
It must specify what is the inventor claiming to get protection for the invention.
It must also specify the filing date of the application.
It must also specify if some request for earlier approval of the application is sought by the inventor.
If an application is filed to claim a patent in a foreign country then it may be important to add security clearances issued by one’s home country, to claim a patent in the foreign country.
There are certain matters which are excluded from being provided with a patent, so it is also necessary to check that the matter is not falling within that subject matter.

Trends in Patent Application

As per WIPO estimates, almost 3.3 million patent applications were received across the globe in 2020, which has increased by 1.6% from 2019. Out of the total 3.3 million applications, 16.5% of applications were filed by women to get patents.

Conclusion

A patent is an exclusive right given to an individual for an invention. A patent application is a legal or administrative proceeding pending in a patent office for the grant of a patent. It could be made at a regional, national, or international level. It must specify the names of the inventors, the description of the invention, and how it is different from similar things in the market. It must also provide the filing date. It must also specify if any request for earlier consideration of a patent application is sought by the inventors. Generally, the patent application is considered within eighteen months of its filing.