Provisional Patent Registration
Provisional patent registration is the application that is usually made before filing a usually patent. Provisional patent registration is a document that is filed before complete patent specification in the office of the controller of patents pertaining to an outlook patent.
As the patent is incomplete, it is known as a Provisional patent. Getting a provisional patent registration is not mandatory, but it has many advantages for the inventor. The provisional specification is filed along with a patent application if the applicant feels that the invention is at a stage wherein it can be disclosed on paper but has not attained the final step.
Usually, a Provisional specification is filed along with a patent application to secure a priority date for the application over any other application filed in respect of the same invention being developed.
To get a complete patent, a lot of details of the design and the specifications are required. Patenting involves a lot of research and development. Even if they have not fully formed the patentable design or process, an individual can obtain provisional patent registration to protect their work.
The most significant reason to get a provisional patent is to provide security and a form of interim protection to the applicant until he pursues a complete patent.
File your Provisional Patent Registration application online through TAXAJ. Get help with GST registration procedure, eligibility and documents required.
It usually takes 6 to 12 months, depending upon government approval.
- Session with TAXAJ Expert
- Filing of Application for Patent
- Follow up till you secure the approval
- Any business or individual wanting to protect their work.
- Purchase of Plan
- Expert Assigned
- Upload documents on vault
- Application filed with IPR Authority
- Follow up with Authority
- Approval Letter
- Form 1 (application for grant of the patent)
- Form 2 (provisional specifications)
- Form 5 (Declaration of Inventorship)
- Form 26(Power of attorney) (required if an agent files the form on behalf of the applicant)
- E-filing fees (Statutory Patent fee)
- Form 3 (Corresponding declaration and undertakings concerning foreign patent application)
- Priority document ( For convention application if the priority date is claimed)
- Illustration/ Diagrams of the invention.
What is a Provisional Patent?
What is a Provisional Patent?
A provisional patent is a preliminary step and is obtained to get protection before being able to file a complete patent. To get a complete patent, a lot of details of the design and its specifications are required. When a person is involved in R&D even if they do not have a fully formed design or process that is patentable, they may obtain a provisional patent to protect their work.
Compared to a complete patent a provisional patent has shortcomings, especially upon the period of protection given to the intellectual property that has been provisionally patented. The main reason for allowing provisional patents is to provide security and a form of interim protection to investors and inventors until they are fully able to pursue a complete patent.
What Information Will a Provisional Patent Contain?
What Information Will a Provisional Patent Contain?
- The name/title of the invention/design/process
- Provisional specifications (Note: Provisional specification do not have to contain claims section)
- Description of the invention (Note: The description of the invention should not be scarce and limited)
- Field and objective of the invention
Patent Filing Procedure
What is the procedure to file a patent in India?
The Indian Patent Act,1970 regulates the Patent laws in India. It deals with the registration, renewal, transfer, and protection of patent rights in India. For an invention to get patented, it must be novel, have an inventive step, and displays industrial applicability.
Patent Search
Before registering any intellectual property rights like trademark registration or design registration, it is advisable to search the public database. A patent search will help the inventor or patent attorney determine the patent's novelty and its obviousness.
Conducting a patent search will also help discover inventions that are already registered, helping the inventor either draft the application or extend the innovation scope to distinguish from the existing inventions.
Patent Filing
After the patent search, the next step is to draft the patent application by the patent attorney's inventor. The application must be a specification, a legal document with scientific information which constitutes the patent rights.
Specification play a major role in the patent application process and must be drafted by an experienced patent attorney. It is necessary to mention the various features of the invention. Patent specifications are of two types - Provisional specification and Complete specification.
Provisional Specification
When the invention has reached a presentable form but not the final share, the applicant can file a provisional specification. A provisional specification will help the individual to establish the priority of the inventor over any other person who is likely to apply the same application.
After filing a provisional specification, the patent office provides a patent filing date for the invention. From the filing date, the inventor has 12 months to develop the invention and submit the complete specification.
Complete Specification
Once the provisional specification is filed, and a patent filing date is obtained, a complete specification must be filed within 12 months. Any patent application for which full specification is not filed will be considered abandoned.
A complete specification must include the title, preamble of the invention, name, address, and nationality of the applicant, field of the invention, general statement of invention, a full description of the invention, the primary method of making the invention work, statement claims, drawings and abstract.
To avoid errors, an experienced patent attorney must prepare the complete specifications.
Patent Publication
After the patent application is filed, the application is accepted, and the patent application is published in the patent journal. Patent applications will not be published for 18 months from the date of filing of the application or from the date of priority of the application, whichever is earlier.
If the applicant wishes to have a speedy process, Form 9 can be filed to request publication at the earliest.
Patent Examination
A request for patent examination must be filed within 48 months of filing a patent application or date of priority of the application, whichever is earlier.
The patent examiner will determine if the application satisfies the novelty, inventive step, and other criteria established for granting the patent registration.
Suppose there are objections the same will be raised by the patent examiner in the first examination report. Response to the objection raised in the first examination report can be filed within 12 months by the applicant.
Patent Registration
On submission of a response to a First Examination Report, if the Examiner is satisfied that all criteria for granting a patent are satisfied, patent registration is granted. The term of validity of the patent will be 20 years from the filing of the patent application.
Components of Provisional Patent Specification
Components of Provisional Patent Specification
The information contained in a provisional patent
- The invention/ design/ process name/ Title
- Provisional requirement
- Definition of innovation
- Field and intent of innovation
Benefits of Patent filing Specification
Benefits of Patent filing Specification
Cost-Effective
The cost of a provisional patent specification is comparatively lower than that of a complete patent specification which saves a fair amount of the applicant concerning professional fees.
Duration
Research of the industry is essential to develop claims. The inventor is unaware of what basis to claim protection for it. The twelve-month gap between the provisional patent specification and complete patent specification can be used for research and analysis effectively.
Pending Patent Tag
Once the provisional patent specification has been filed, the inventor can officially and legally use the "Patent pending" or "Patent applied" tag for their invention. This tag will help receive funds as the invention's authenticity rises while the primary business model is advanced.
Scope of Abandonment
An applicant can easily abandon an invention if he thinks that the product created is not commercially viable.
Secrecy
As there is no publication of the patent application, the prioritized data can be maintained by secrecy.
Things to consider when going for Provisional Application
Be careful when writing provisional application for your invention.
It is a scope defining document:
A provisional application is not a rough draft of your idea or invention. In fact it defines the scope of your invention. So every part (element) of your invention which is outside the scope of the provisional application and you happened to develop in the 12 months time (that is at the time of filing complete patent application) will fail to have the earlier priority date (filing date of provisional application). Which means the part of invention you developed after filing provisional which is outside the scope which is set by provisional application will not have the advantage of priority date of provisional application.
Even if you file complete specification later it does not replace the provisional specification, it still remains in the record.
The patent office allocates the filing date and patent application number to the provisional application received. If the complete specification is not filed within 12 months from the filing date of provisional specification, the patent application is treated as deemed to have been abandoned.
The applicant who has filed a provisional patent application must file a non-provisional patent application during the 12-month pendency period of the provisional application in order to benefit from the earlier filing of the provisional application.
The description of invention should not be limiting:
The language used in patent application plays an important role in defining its scope: While writing description for invention, you should avoid using limiting words like “must have” “consists” “essential” Instead try to describe elements of the invention with as broad scope as possible: You can use terms like a “writing device” instead of directly saying “a pen” which would be of limiting scope and can eliminate other writing devices like pencil from the scope.
Contents of Provisional Specification
- Title of the invention
- Description of the invention starts with preamble ‘The following Specification describes the invention.’
- The description contains
- The field of invention and containing the background of the invention,
- Object of the invention and statement of the invention.
Claims may not be part of the Provisional Specification.
