One needs to file provisional or complete specification, which is certainly one of the vital documents when filing an application for patent registration. Filing specification has to be done either as a provisional or a complete. An applicant can opt for filing a provisional specification along with a patent application only if he or she feels that disclosing the invention on paper is necessary due to the stage it has reached even though it hasn’t attained the final step. To secure a priority date for the application over other applications that could be filed in regards to the same invention being developed simultaneously, it is crucial to file a provisional specification along with a patent application.
Why File Provisional Specifications?
A patent application must consist of a complete specification, which is a partially technical and partially legal document that entirely and in a detailed manner, describes the invention and the ideal invention-performing methods. The complete specification is a significantly vital document in the patent proceedings, and only an experienced Patent Lawyer must draft it. The Inventor may feel in some cases that the invention and requirement for assembling a complete specification haven’t yet been accomplished.
In such situations, filing a provisional specification along with a patent application becomes necessary for securing a priority date. Besides the application number to the patent application, the Patent Office allots a filling date on receiving the provisional application. Any application that accompanies a provisional specification is considered to be rejected if an applicant doesn’t file a single complete specification within twelve months from the provisional specification filing date.
Provisional Specifications Key Contents
Aside from the title, the description of the invention should be there in a provisional specification. Keep in mind that every applicant should include a preamble “The following specification describes the invention” at the very first of a provisional specification. Starting the description of the invention from the second page is essential. Make sure that you start with the field of the invention that should contain the invention’s background, the object and statement of the invention. Generally, an applicant includes claims in the complete specification instead of the provisional specification. However, being an applicant, you should include substantial information at the time of filing a specification.
Process of Patent Filing
The Indian Patent Act, 1970 administers patent laws in India. The Act deals with the registration, renewal, protection and transfer of patent rights in India. To acquire patent rights, an applicant needs to prove that the invention is novel, has an inventive step and exhibits industrial applicability aspects.
Searching A Patent
Before the registration of any intellectual property right such as a design registration or trademark registration or patent registration, experts recommend that one should conduct a thorough search of the database of the public. A Patent Lawyer or the Inventor will be able to determine the patent’s novelty and obviousness by conducting a patent search. When it comes to discovering pre-registered inventions and facilitating the Inventors draft the patent application in a better manner or extending the innovation’s scope to stand out from existing inventions, a patent search comes to the major rescue.
Filing A Patent
The Inventor or a Patent Lawyer should draft the patent application after conducting a patent search. A legal document with scientific information involving patent rights should be there in a patent application for a specification. A highly qualified and experienced patent lawyer should draft a patent application because specifications play a significant role in the process. It is of the utmost importance to mention the details of the invention along with different features in the invention.
The two main types of patent specifications are the provisional specification and complete specification.
Provisional Specification
An Inventor can file a provisional specification when the invention attains the presentable stage but not the final one. A provisional specification helps establish the Inventor’s priority over any other individuals who could file an application for the same invention. The Inventor will know about the patent filing date for the invention after filing a provisional specification from the patent office. The Inventor gets a full year time to develop the novel invention and submit the complete specification from the provisional specification filing date. Such a specification is initially filed for patent applications and primarily consists of the invention’s title and a brief description without any claims.
Complete Specification
Filing a complete specification within a year is immensely crucial after an Inventor files a provisional specification and obtains a patent filing date. The patent office rejects every patent application for which no complete specification is filed. A complete specification must include the title, preamble of invention, name, address, applicant’s nationality, the field of invention, purpose and use of the invention, problems that the invention will fix, invention’s objectives, invention’s general statement, full description, ideal method to make the invention work, claims’ statement, abstract and drawings. To avoid any mistakes, the best step is to contact a proficient and experienced patent attorney to prepare the complete specification.
Publication of Patent
The patent application gets published in the patent journal if the application is accepted after its filing. Either from the application filing date or date of priority of the application, for a period of one and a half year, the patent applications won’t get published. However, if the Inventor or Patent Applicant wishes to accelerate the procedure, the best thing he or she can do is file a Form-9 to ask for publication as early as possible.
Examination of Patent
Whichever happens before, after the publication of patent, an applicant must file a request for patent examination within four years of the patent application filing date or the application’s date of priority. An examiner takes up the patent application when an applicant requests for an examination. The duty of the Patent examiner is to determine if the patent application meets the established criteria for providing patent registration.
Registration of Patent
The Patent Examiner grants the registration of patent to the applicant only after the submission of a response to a First Examination Report if all established requirements are satisfied. The validity of the patent stays for 20 years from the patent application filing date.
