Diverse Patent Applications

Patent

For registering the patent, it is essential to file a patent application before the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, a government agency which reports to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

For filing a patent application in India, the Form 1 must be filed, providing the basic legal information about the applicant, inventor, and the assignee. The Form 2 must be filled, providing the basic technical information on the invention (specifications). When filling the Form 1, one has to specify the type of patent application being filed.

Types of Patent Application

1. Ordinary or Non-Provisional Application
2. Convention Application
3. PCT Application
4. Patent of Addition
5. Divisional Application

• Ordinary or Non- Provisional Application

Ordinary application is directly filed before the Indian Patent Office. Unlike Conventional Application or PCT Application, it is the first application filed for the particular invention. Indian filing date is also the first priority date of the application. It must be supported by complete specification, depicting the invention in detail.

• Convention Application

It is filed by a foreign applicant, with the intention of claiming a priority date based on the same or substantially similar application filed in any of the convention countries. This application must be filed by the applicant within one year from the date of the initial filing of similar application in the convention country.

• PCT Application

PCT or Patent Cooperation Treaty is a multinational treaty that allows the applicant to file one single application for patents in multiple countries (the 142 signatory countries of the Treaty)

This application has two phases- PCT International Application and PCT National Phase Application.

PCT International Application is one application that needs to be filed in order to streamline patent procedure in multiple countries at the same time.

National Phase Application, on the other hand, is filled in each individual country where the protection is sought. This application must be filed within 30 or 31 months from the priority date or the international filing date, whichever is earlier.

• Patent of Addition

In  case there is any modification of the invention required, in an invention that is already patented, then, the Patent of Addition Application is filed. Thus, a Patent of Addition can only be granted after the patent has been granted for the invention. The Chapter IX, Sections 54 to 56 deal with any proposed modifications

Section 54 (1) of the Indian Patents Act reads thus:

“Subject to the provisions contained in this section, where an application is made for a patent in respect of any improvement in or modification of an invention described or disclosed in the complete specification filed therefor (in this Act referred to as the “main invention”) and the applicant also applies or has applied for a patent for that invention or is the patentee in respect thereof, the Controller may, if the applicant so requests, grant the patent for the improvement or modification as a patent of addition.”

• Divisional Application

The Section 46 (6) of the Indian Patent Act provides that a patent can only be granted for One invention only. In case there is an application  for more than one invention, Section 16 comes into play. The applicant can make a request so that the Controller may allow him to divide the application. This application is called the Divisional Application. The priority date in the divisional application is same as that of the first/ parent application.

Conclusion

Henceforth, the patent office provides with certain options for the filing of patent applications which extends the scope of protection of patents and also opens up the ways through which patent applications can be filed.