PATENT REGISTRATION

If you are going to initiate a new business with new products or from the idea of creation from mind, for this Patent which safeguards the Intellectual Property right in India for your products. The patent registration which grants various benefits and protection to your business and your brand. Brands like Coca cola patented their formulas in order to prevent the competitors in the market by registering it into the Patents. In this Article we are dealing with the detailed review about the patent registration in India.

PATENT :

The word Patent is derived from the Latin word “Patere” which means “to lay open”. Basically, Patent is an exclusive right which was granted by the government to the inventors for preventing his creativity from others to use, sell or create the copy of such inventions for the particular time period.

The Patent is a right that is awarded to a person for his new invention or technology which has not existed before on the earth. Fundamentally, patents protect inventions & encourage innovation & scientific commercial developments. It encourages the inventor to gain exclusive benefits in exchange for their inventions.

WHAT CAN NOT BE PATENTABLE IN INDIA :

In India there are certain products that are not protected or registered as Patent under the Patent Act of 1970. Those are,

The inventions that should violates the natural laws
Inventions which are harmful to humans, and the surrounding environments.
Methods for agriculture and horticulture.
Inventions relating to Atomic energy.
Computer programs and Mathematical methods
Discoveries naturally present living and Non living things.
Inventions aggregating or duplicating known properties of components of traditionally known matters.

Some of the Inventions which are not patentable shall be mentioned under the Patent Act of 1970.

These are the necessary documents needed for the drafting of the security agreement.

CRITERIA FOR PATENT INVENTION :

There are certain criteria that are applicable to the inventions or the product for getting patentability as per the law.

Those criterias are,

Novelty
Inventive steps or Non Obviousness
Industrial Application
Non-patentable subject matters.

NOVELTY :

The invention should be created by new human knowledge and it should not exist before the earth. The invention has some uniqueness to identity itself and is differ from what is already there.

INVENTIVE STEPS AND NON OBVIOUSNESS :

The invention must have certain ways and procedures to be created by the inventor. The invention should be useful to the world and this could be a solution for the problem solving for the existing problems.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION :

The invention should be manufactured in a certain form or the industrial process. The invention must have practical utility in order to be patentable.

PATENTABLE SUBJECT MATTERS :

This refers to the invention’s eligibility for the patentable conditions. As per the Section 3 and 4 of the Patent law deals with the non patentable applicability such as patient shall not be granted for the atomic inventions etc. So make sure that your invention must be applicable for the patentable subject matter.

If the invention should not satisfy the criteria, it should not be applicable for the Patent registration.

IMPORTANT FORMS FOR PATENT REGISTRATION :

The important forms that the applicant needs to file for the patent registration are.

Form 1 used as a Patent registration Application.
Form 2 used for filing the provisional or complete specification.
Form 3 used for the Statement and Undertakings.
Form 5 filed for the inventor’s declaration about the invention.
Form 9 can be used for the publication request.
Form 18 used for the Examination request.
Form 26 can be used for the Patent agent authorization
Form 28 used if the applicant is a small entity.

Types of Patent Applications

Patent application is the one which seeks the Registrar to grant a Patent in the name of the inventor. There are various types of patent applications.

a. Provisional Patent Application:

The patent registration is based on Priority. In simple words it’s First Come First Serve basis. A provisional Patent application is also named as a Temporary patent application. This provisional application would be filed when an invention is in concept stage, the inventor can get the priority date.

The inventor should file a Complete specification within 12 months from the date of filing a provisional specification; failing which the provisional application would be treated abandoned.

b. Regular / Ordinary Application for patent

A patent application which is filed without any priority date or filed without any earlier convention application. The original application must accompany the complete specification.

c. Convention Patent application

A convention patent application is the one which is filed in the Indian Patent Office with a Prior date based on an application filed in a convention country. The deadline for filing a convention application is 12 months from the date of filing a Trademark application in a convention country.

d. PCT Application

The PCT System makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in a large number of countries by filing a single “international” patent application instead of filing several separate national or regional patent applications.

e. Patent of Addition

The Patent of addition which an applicant made for the patent in respect of the improvements or the modifications of the inventions. This cannot be granted before the original patent is granted.

f. Divisional Application

It is also called the divisional patent application. This application generally includes the subject matter of the previously filed application.This allows the applicant to protect the different aspects of their new inventions.

These are the types of patent application, which are generally used in India.

PROCEDURE FOR PATENT REGISTRATION :

Patent registration in India which Involves the various stages. For the patent registering, all the necessary conditions must be fulfilled by the applicant.

STEP 1 : PATENT SEARCH

At the first step, before filing the application, the process of Patent search should be conducted to know the uniqueness of your invention for the registration. The prior art search is a technique which is used to find the similarities of the patent world wide. This search will help to prevent the similar patents registration of the same products. You can directly use the Government portal for prior art search. A good prior art search report shall help to prevent the objections to our patent applications.

STEP 2 : PATENT DRAFTING

After conducting the prior search art report, for the next stage, we can move to the patent draftings. Basically, Patent Drafting or Patent writing is the process of drafting of the patent application with the specification of the patent that is being invented. It Should mention details about the scope and the in depth description of the Patent. A good patent drafting should help the Patent Officer to understand the invention product very easily.

STEP 3 : FILING PATENT APPLICATION

It is one of the main aspects, Filing the patent application for the invention along with the drafted scope and description of the invention in the specified forms. The applicant can file Form 1 for filing the patent along with the drafted specifications they need to file the Form 2.

There are six types of Patent application forms which serve different purposes. Based on our inventions we should file the appropriate form for the fillings.

STEP 4 : PATENT PUBLICATIONS

If the application was accepted in the Patent Office, they can make arrangements for the publications. The Patent is published in an official journal and available for public viewing and inspections. This journal publication allows the general public to view the patent for raising the Opposition, if it satisfies the valid ground.

No opposition made for the patent which is published in the journal shall be qualified for the next stage.

STEP 5 : PATENT EXAMINATIONS

The Examination of the patent is only made when the applicant requests for the examination by filing the applicable form. This Request should be submitted within the 48 months of the patent filings.

In the examination process the Patent application should be examined by the officer and generate a report if any objections were found. The reply should be submitted by the application within 12 months of the issuance of the report. The examiner can call the applicant for the Show cause hearing to file the necessary correction of the Patent. This examination plays a major role and is also called a patent prosecution stage.

STEP 6 : PATENT GRANTING

Once the Objections were cleared by the applicant within the mentioned time period. The final stage of the Application should be prepared for the patent registration.

If in case the examiner is not satisfied with the responses of the examination report then the patent application should be rejected.

IMPORTANCE OF THE PATENT REGISTRATION :

The registration which grants us immense protection from others to use, sell or to create copies of our products and the registration holds significant value to the Invention which was discovered.

Creation of the Assets : The Patent is one of the intellectual property rights and became an exclusive assert for the inventors for his business.
Competitive Advantages : The registration which offers the competitive edge for your business which prevents others to have the similar invention in the markets.
Validity : The Registration which gives the validity of 20 years from the date of registration.
Protections : It provides the legal protection for the patent holders that inventors can claim infringement if they copy the registered products.
Commercial value : The registered Patent shall be used to sell and gain the commercial value for the inventors.

These are the certain Importance of the Patent registration.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PATENT REGISTRATION :

The patent registration which gives you the absolute ownership right for your invention.
It prevents others from copying, manufacturing and selling your invention without your permission.
It creates a unique market presence and attracts investors for your business.
The patent is the instrument for technological advancement and development. These can offset the high cost of the technological research and development process.
Having the rights to re-create or reproduce allows the patent to be licenced so the holder can receive the royalty from the competitive markets