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Patent Application Filing in Indian Patent Office

An application for a patent can be filed by the true and first inventor. The assignee or legal representative of the inventor can also file it. It can be filed individually or jointly. If an application is filed by the assignee, proof of assignment has to be submitted along with the application. The applicant can be national of any country.

An application can be filed directly at the Indian Patent Office or via the Patent Cooperation Treaty having a corresponding Indian application or in the form of a Conventional application. A patent application can be filed at any of the four patent offices in India. Patent Offices are located at Kolkata, New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

Every application filed directly at Indian Patent Office shall be accompanied by a provisional or complete specification. In case of PCT or Convention application, applicant can file only the complete specification. Provisional applications are generally filed at a stage where some experimentation is required to perfect the invention. A complete specification has to be filed within 12 months extendable to 15 months from the date of filing of the provisional specification. If an application is filed with a complete specification, the Controller on request has the power to convert the complete specification into a provisional one. If a complete specification follows a provisional specification, the controller on request can post date the date of filing to the date of complete specification. Filing of a provisional specification allows the applicant to get an early application date.

Provisional Specification shall contain:

a) Title
b) Written Description
c) Drawings, if necessary
d) Sample or model if required

The complete specification shall contain:

a) Title
b) Abstract
c) Written Description
d) Drawings (where necessary)
e) Sample or Model (if required by the examiner)
f) Enablement and Best Mode
g) Claims
h) Deposit (Microorganisms)

a) Title
Title is generally a word or a phrase indicating the content of the invention.

b) Abstract
It is a short paragraph describing the invention in a precise manner.

c) Written Description
This is an important part of the specification. It contains the complete and elaborate description of the invention. Written Description generally starts with a background of the invention. It explains the invention clearly and comprehensively, with the help of examples, drawings and models, where and when required.

d) Drawings
The written description might be supplemented with clearly labeled drawings, where and when required.

e) Samples or Models
On initiative of the inventor or when required by the patent examiner samples or models might be submitted to the patent office. Such samples or models will provide a better understanding of the invention.

f) Enablement and Best Mode
The applicant has to enable his invention in order to allow a person with ordinary skill in the art to make and work the invention. He should not only enable, but also describe the best mode of carrying out the invention.

g) Claims
Claims define the metes and bounds of the invention. They are the most important elements in a specification.

h) Deposit
If an invention involves microorganisms, which cannot be described by writing, a sample of the microorganism has to be deposited at an internationally recognized depository. There is an internationally recognized depository at Chandigarh, in India

A provisional specification cannot be filed if an application has been filed in a foreign country, before the Indian filing, and if the application is a PCT application. A complete specification has to be filed within twelve months of filing the provisional specification. Each specification should contain only one invention. If there is more than one invention in a specification, separate applications have to be filed for each invention. If an Indian application has corresponding foreign applications, the applicant has to keep the Controller informed of the status of the foreign applications.


The following documents have to be submitted at the time of filing a patent application:

a. Form 1 - Application for the grant of patent
b. Form 2 - Provisional or Complete Specification
c. Form 3 - Statement and undertaking by the applicant
d. Form 5 - Declaration as to Inventorship
e. Form 26 - Authorization of patent agent or any other person.

Dynamic, confident, creative and proactive in the area of Intellectual Property Rights having combination of rich experience in high technology manufacturing industries at various verticals such as Operations, Process Engineering, Product Development and Project Management. Senthil is also an inventor in the area of Instrumentation & Process control.

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