Monday, August 25, 2008

Patent Act_11

What are the essential patent documents to be generated and submitted by a potential patentee?
There are two types of patent documents usually known as patent specification, namely
(i) Provisional Specification and (ii) Complete Specification
Provisional Specification
A provisional specification is usually filed to establish priority of the invention in case the disclosed invention is only at a conceptual stage and a delay is expected in submitting full and specific description of the invention. Although, a patent application accompanied with provisional specification does not confer any legal patent rights to the applicants, it is, however, a very important document to establish the earliest ownership of an invention. The provisional specification is a permanent and independent scientific cum legal document and no amendment is allowed in this. No patent is granted on the basis of a provisional specification. It has to be a followed by a complete specification for obtaining a patent for the said invention. Complete specification must be submitted within 12 months of filing the provisional specification. This period can be extended by 3 months. It is not necessary to file an application with provisional specification before the complete specification. An application with complete specification can be filed right at the first instance.
Complete Specification
Submission of complete specification is necessary to obtain a patent The contents of a complete specification would include the following
1. Title of the invention.
2. Field to which the invention belongs .
3. Background of the invention including prior art giving drawbacks of the known inventions & practices.
4. Complete description of the invention along with experimental results.
5. Drawings etc. essential for understanding the invention.
6. Claims, which are statements, related to the invention on which legal proprietorship is being sought. Therefore the claims have to be drafted very carefully.

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