1. Does Indian Patent give protection worldwide?
Patent protection is territorial right and therefore it is effective only within the territory of India. However, filing an application in India enables the applicant to file a corresponding application for same invention in convention countries, within or before expiry of twelve months from the filing date in India.
2. Is there provision for filing patent application electronically by online system?
From 20th July, 2007 the Indian Patent Office has put in place an online filing system for patent application. More information for filing online application is available on the website of Patent Office i.e. www.ipindia.nic.in. This facility is also available for filing trademarks application.
3. What are the criteria of patentability?
An invention to become patentable subject matter must meet the following criteria -
i) It should be novel.
ii) It should have inventive step or it must be non-obvious
iii) It should be capable of Industrial application.
iv) It should not fall within the provisions of section 3 and 4 of the Patents Act 1970.
4. Is it necessary to file a provisional application?
Generally, an application filed with provisional specification is known as provisional application which is useful in establishing a priority date for your invention. Moreover, filing of a provisional application is useful as it gives sufficient time to the applicant to assess and evaluate the market potential of his invention before filing complete specification. However, it is not necessary to file an application with provisional specification and one can file application directly with complete specification.
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5. Does the Patent Office Keep information of the invention Secret?
Yes. All the patent applications are kept secret upto 18 months from the date of filing or priority date whichever is earlier and thereafter they are published in the Official Journal of the Patent Office which is published every week and also available on the IPO website. After its publication, public can inspect the documents and also may take the photocopy thereof on payment of the fee as prescribed.
6. When an application for patent is published?
Every application for patent is published after 18 months from the date of its filing or priority date whichever is earlier. However, following applications are not published.
A) Application in which secrecy direction is imposed
B) Application which has been abandoned u/s 9(1) and
C) Application which has been withdrawn 3 months prior to 18 months
7. Is there any provision in the law for early publication?
Yes, the applicant can make a request for early publication in Form 9 along with the prescribed fee. After receiving such request the Patent Office publishes such application within a period of one month provided the invention contained thereon does not relate to atomic energy or defence purpose.
8. When the request for examination can be filed?
The request for examination can be filed within a period of 48 months from the date of priority or date of filing of the application whichever is earlier. For more details kindly refer to rule 24B of the Patents Rules 2003 as amended up to 2006.
9. What happens to a patent application once it is examined?
After examination, the Patent office issues an examination report to the applicant which is generally known as First Examination Report (FER). Thereafter the applicant is required to comply with the requirements within a period of twelve months from the date of FER. In case, the application is found to be in order for grant, the patent is granted, provided there is no pre-grant opposition is filed or pending. A letter patent is issued to the applicant. However, in case a pre-grant opposition is pending, the further action is taken after disposition of the pre-grant opposition.
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10. What happens when applicant is not able to meet the requirement within the prescribed time?
If the applicant is not able to comply with or meet the requirement within 12 months, or does not submit the documents which were sent to him for compliance within the said period, the application is deemed to have been abandoned.
11. Is there provision for extension beyond time limit of 12 months?
There is no provision for extension of time beyond the period of 12 months.
