Provisional Patent Application in India

Mansi Gaur, Lexgin IP

A provisional patent application is filed to protect your invention in its ideation stage and secure it from any future infringement. In a world full of innovation and start-ups, protecting ideation is necessary. The provisional application is filed for a short period of time in India, and the complete application needs to be submitted within 12 months from the date of filing of the provisional application.

Patent filing is a legal process, so while filling out a provisional application, you need to fill in all essential forms with specifications and background about your innovation. Provisional applications may also be submitted online. Before applying for a patent, you need to draft all the details on a single sheet and also search for existing work in your domain. These essential steps make your patent filing a flawless process.

Requirement to file a provisional application:

• Invention’s title
• Invention details and industrial applicability
• Inventors details.
• Forms and fees
• Special forms are available for provisional applications.
• Prepare a draft of the complete specification.
• Declaration of inventorship

Advantages of a provisional patent application:

• Provisional applications require less legal procedure, so ultimately it’s easier for inventors to secure their ideation via a provisional patent application.
• It benefits you by providing  12 more months to complete your research work, and then you proceed to complete your patent.
• One of the most important considerations is cost; a provisional patent application is much less expensive than a ordinary patent application.
• At this stage, a brief description of your invention and a set of diagrams is required. If you add drawings and diagrams with your application, it gives a better understanding.
• A provisional patent application is a short-term solution to protect your research and is immensely beneficial for start-ups, small business owners, and scholars.
• The only thing you need to remember while filling out a provisional application is that you need to file a complete ordinary patent within 12 months from the date of filling.

Provisional patent specification:

1. A candidate should keep the following factors in mind while filling provisional application. It is not the Complete Patent Specification’s draft.
2. When defining the invention’s scope, it will be the provisional specification. At the time of filling out the complete application, this will serve as the foundation.
3. The invention will not receive the earlier priority date for any of its components. That were created within the 12-month period between the filing of a provisional specification.
4. The complete patent specification. Any modification or improvement to the invention made after filing a PROVISIONAL PATENT SPECIFICATION but inside the parameters.
5. Established by the provisional application will not benefit from the provisional application’s priority date. It is important for the inventor or applicant to remember that it is not “final” or “conclusive.”
6. This is not the “last” or “conclusive” step in the process of obtaining a patent. The inventor or applicant should keep this in mind. This is the first stage in the process to register a patent.
7. It must be remembered that if the applicant does not submit the Complete Patent Specification within the twelve-month deadline, the patent application would be termed “abandoned.”
8. Even though privacy and security are retained just after the provisional patent application, full and sufficient declarations must be made in the provisional application as insufficient applications will be detrimental.

Documents required to file for a patent:

Form 1:

In this form submit a request for a patent. Before signing, the applicant must completely fill out this form, including all necessary details, the name of the inventor(s), and the nature of the innovation.

Form 2:

The information on these forms is merely indicative. The applicant’s name and position title must be written beside the words “provisional patent.” The innovation must also be described in this format.

Form 3:

File equivalent foreign patent applications

Form 5:

Statement of inventorship is included in this form.

Form 26:

The patent agent needs to be granted power of attorney. It must be submitted within six months after the application’s filing date.

The difference between a provisional and a complete application is as follows:

• A provisional application does not contain an important section named “claims,”  but in the case of an ordinary application, claims are the most important part.
• A provisional application is submitted with a brief write-up and a few details attached, whereas an ordinary patent application cannot.
• An ordinary application is submitted with all specifications and forms in one go, whereas a provisional application gives you 12 months to submit details.
• And the best part is that a foreign application or PCT application can be followed up with the help of both applications, whether they are provisional or patent applications.
• Provisional application allows the inventor time to grow and expand his or her innovation, which is not possible with ordinary application. 

Read more:

Patent Filling Procedure in India

Steps to take while filling for Patent