subject: Patent Drafting In India [print this page] In general, Patent applications are drafted with the help of patent attorney or patent agent who has the technical background as well as legal background or patent law expertise. In order to obtain a patent for an invention, the invention must have the patentability criteria such as novelty.
Unilin, the claimant, applied for a patent for a floor covering and the application succeeded. Unilin then became aware of prior art which made it necessary for it to amend the patent application by reducing the scope of the main claim.
One of the most common difficulties faced by inventors while discussing the invention with a patent attorney is to define the patentable features. Generally, inventors are unable to describe what according to them are the patentable feature and/or unique contribution their invention makes to the relevant field.
A patent drawing must accurate. It should reflect the form, surface finish, and material of the subject matter. A patent drawing must be clear. Certain elements of the subject may be omitted, phantomed, or sectioned for increased clarity.
Secondly, identify pertinent patent classification codes related to your invention. Perform classification codes search (sans keywords) to see the noise in your desired technology area. In both the above mentioned steps, you may end up with false positives and they are predictable.
Holding an in-person (if possible) meeting of the creator/inventors, patent counsel, and company mangers in order to determine and decide what is or should be the broadest possible scope for the innovation in commercial and non-commercial terms; and to detail and characterize inventorship.
The concept of enablement boils down to whether the application describes all the parts, elements, embodiments necessary to teach one skilled in the art how to make and use the invention. As such, the specification and the drawings must be complete.
The patent application is published in a national patent journal, periodically published by the respective country's patent office. This is done for brief description of the subject matter of the application. At this point, any 'person interested' upon payment of a fee, may obtain a copy of the patent, for reading and/or opposition purposes.
This concept is extremely useful for the potential infringers but may disadvantage the patentee because the true extent of the usefulness of the patent may not be evident until years in the future. The true extent may extend beyond the description found in the current specification.
To be patentable, an invention should fall within the scope of patentable subject matter as defined by the patent statute. The invention must relate to a machine, article or substance produced by manufacture, or the process of manufacture of an article.
It is a simplified version of a final (or Utility) patent and offers you complete international priority protection for 1 year. After that, you must proceed to the final patent, or you will lose the protection gained from the Provisional. The Provisional Specification is the cheapest form of total legal protection around the world and was designed with starting-out inventors in mind.
