Patent Registration in India: A Complete Procedure - Enterslice

What is Patent Registration?

After the process of patent registration, one gets intellectual property right to an invention carried out by an individual or a firm. In case it is unique, the government will grant you the full right for your product. It grants you the full right of making, using, selling or importing the product or process and prohibits others from doing so. The patents in India are governed by the Patent Act 1970 and Patent Rules 1972.

The lifetime of a patent is 20 years. This period is limited in most cases, but it could only be extended by the act of congress and in rare cases, it could be extended for a few years.

The patent could be for many things, be it process, art, a method to manufacture, particular apparatus, machine, computer software, technical application, chemicals or drugs. We, at Enterslice, act as a patent agent and helps companies register themselves in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and all other Indian cities.

What can be Patented in India?

1. Patentable subject matter:
 The foremost consideration is to determine whether the invention relates to a patentable subject-matter. Sections 3 and 4 of the Patents Act list out the non-patentable subject matter. As long as the invention does not fall under any provision of Sections 3 or 4, it means it has patentable subject matter (subject to the satisfaction of the other criteria).

2. Novelty:
Novelty is an important criterion in determining the patentability of an invention. novelty or new invention is defined under Section 2(l) of the Patents Act as "any invention or technology which has not been anticipated by publication in any document or used in the country or elsewhere in the world before the date of filing of patent application with complete specification, i.e., the subject matter has not fallen in public domain or that it does not form part of the state of the art".

Simply put, the novelty requirement basically states that an invention should never have been published in the public domain. It must be new with no same or similar prior arts.

3. Inventive step or Non-Obviousness:
Inventive step is defined under Section 2(ja) of the Patents Act as "a feature of an invention that involves technical advance as compared to the existing knowledge or having economic significance or both and that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art". This means that the invention must not be obvious to a person skilled in the same field as the invention relates to. It must be inventive and not obvious to a person skilled in the same field.

4. Capable of Industrial Application:
Industrial applicability is defined under Section 2(ac) of the Patents Act as "the invention is capable of being made or used in an industry". This essentially means that the invention cannot exist in the abstract. It must be capable of being applied in any industry, which means that the invention must have practical utility in order to be patentable.

What Kind of Inventions cannot Be Patented?

here is a lot that can be patented. So, here are some examples of what cannot be patented.

According to the Patents Act, an invention cannot only constitute:

• a discovery, scientific theory or mathematical method,
• an aesthetic creation,
• a scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, or a computer program,
• a presentation of information,
• a procedure for surgical or therapeutic treatment, or diagnosis, to be practiced on humans or animals. 
• Software and business methods
• An idea that only constitutes a computer program or a scheme, rule or method for doing business, is not of a technical nature and cannot, therefore, be patented. However, inventions that are of a technical nature which include a business method, or which are carried out or can be carried out by a computer program, can be patentable. 

What is the Importance of Patent Registration in India?

1. Exclusive Rights
As mentioned earlier, patents provide exclusive rights which allow the inventor to exclude others from using the invention. Particularly, for 20 years from the date of filing the patent application.

2. Strong Market Position
Since the inventor has obtained the exclusive right to the invention, the inventor can exercise this right by preventing others from commercially using the patented invention thereby reducing the competition and thus establishing a place in the commercial market.

3. Higher Returns on Investments
Having invested a considerable amount of time and money in developing the invention, under the umbrella of exclusive rights, the inventor could bring in the invention to the commercial market and thus obtain higher returns on the investment. Of course, this depends on the economic utility of the patent. For this reason, the inventor must ensure the commercial viability of the patent before investing in the patent.

4. Opportunity to License or Sell the Invention
Sometimes, the inventor might not want to exploit the invention himself. In such cases, the investor can sell or license the rights to commercialize it to another enterprise. This would result to bring royalty and revenue to the inventor.

5. Positive Image for the Enterprise
Business partners, investors, and shareholders may perceive the patent portfolios as a demonstration. Particularly, the high level of expertise that is provided by the subject matter experts. This acts as a spectacle of the organization’s capability. Further, this may prove useful for raising funds, finding business partners and also increase the company’s market value.

What are the criteria for filing a Patent Registration Application?

STEP1: Patent Searches
Step by Step Procedure For Patent registration in India Procedure Patent Registration in India searches are conducted and worldwide to know the novelty of an invention. Generally, it is considered safe to do patent searches before patent application filing. If an invention is found in prior arts or closes to prior arts then the novelty of that invention can be challenged by the Indian Patent Office. Therefore, it is important to perform prior art searches in order to save the money and time of an applicant.

STEP2: Patent Drafting
Step by Step Procedure For Patent registration in India After conducting thorough searches worldwide, the invention is written in a techno-legal language known as the specification which can be with or without claims. Without claims is the provisional specification and with claims is the complete specification. The specification specifies the field of invention, detailed description of the invention with working examples and the best method to perform an invention so that a person skilled in the art can perform the invention. The legal part comes with the claims of the invention which define the legal protection sought by an investor.

STEP3: Patent Application Filing
Step by Step Procedure For Patent registration in India A patent application filing is the first step towards obtaining a patent. Procedure Patent Registration in India application filed as a provisional application is generally filed to claim priority date over other applications. A patent application consists of a series of forms prepared according to the Indian Patent Act, 1970. The drafted provisional or complete specification is filed in Form-2 of the Indian Patent Act,1970. If a provisional patent application is filed then within 12 months of its filing complete specification has to be filed. There are 6 different kinds of filing filed in the Indian Patent Office. These are:

Ordinary application PCT National phase application PCT International application convention application Divisional application patent of addition application

STEP4: Publication of Patent Application
Once the Procedure Patent Registration in India has been filed, then after the expiry of 18 months from the date of filing or date of priority whichever is earlier, the application is published in an official journal and is open to the public. This is a chance given to the public to raise an objection if any.

STEP5: Examination of Patent Application/Patent Prosecution
The patent application is examined only when a request for examination has been filed. The request for examination has to be filed within 48 months of the application filing date or date of the priority. The patent examiner examines a patent application and issues an examination report. The examination report contains a series of objections raised by an examiner. The response to an examination report has to be filed within 12 months of the issuance of the examination report. If needed examiner calls the applicant or his agent for hearing. This phase is called patent prosecution.

STEP6: Grant of a Patent
After all objections to the examination report have been compiled and the examiner is satisfied with the reply of an applicant, the application is put in order for a grant. On the other hand, if the examiner is not satisfied with the reply and arguments of an applicant, then he/she can reject the application.