It’s your invention. Keep it safe

What is Patent?

A patent is a type of intellectual property right conferred upon its owner. A patent is an exclusive right granted by the law to the inventor or the owner to protect his product or process from others from making, using, selling, and importing. Basically it excludes others from exploiting or using a particular invention. Most of the patents are awarded for inventions that are either economically significant to the existing patents or technically advanced.

Validity of the patent right is upto 20 years from the date of application filling. You must have to disclose full details of the invention to the public after obtaining a patent grant.

Criteria of patentability

Following criteria must be fulfilled for an invention to be patentable in India:

• It must be new product or process or combination
• It must be novel and useful
• It must have inventive step involved or it must be non-obvious
• It must be capable of industrial application or to be used in industry.

Legal Babu is the most trusted choice for thousands of businesses in India for patent application. Our process is simple, easy and fast. Our main aim is to make the patent application easy and affordable for anyone intends to file patent application in India

Types of patents

There are three major types of patents:

1. Design patents

Anyone who creates a new design for a product can apply for a design patent, A design patent protects an ornamental design on a useful items,

A design patent protects the “surface ornamentation” of an object, which can include the shape or configuration of an object. Design patents are applied for new, original, and ornamental/aesthetic design that is contained within or applied to something that is manufactured.

For obtaining this type of patent protection, the design must be inseparable from the object. While the object and its design must be inseparable, a design patent only protects the object’s appearance, not the functional features.

For example: The shape of a bottle (such as coca cola bottles) or the design of a shoe (such as woodland shoes) or shape of touchscreen devices (such as apple mobiles), furniture (such as IKEA chair), and computer screen icons (such as emoji)

For protecting the functional or structural features of an object, you need to file for a utility patent.

Design patents are difficult to search simply because there are very few words used in a design patent.

2. Plant patents

Plant patent is the patent granted to persons who have invented or discovered a new variety of asexually propagated plants, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings and distinct.

Sexually propagated plants are those that are reproduced by means other than from seeds, which usually involve grafting, rooting of cuttings, other nonsexual means like by layering, budding, inarching, etc. . Generally Plant patents do not cover genetically modified organisms; Plants should not be a tuber propagated plant or wild uncultivated plants.

Plant patents require asexual reproduction because it’s proof that the patent applicant can reproduce the plant, it focus more on conventional horticulture.

Examples include the Smooth Angel rose, powdered turmeric (Curcuma longa), drought tolerant corn.

3. Utility patents

A utility patent may be granted to anyone who invents: a process, a machine, a manufacture, a composition of matter, or an improvement of an existing idea.

A utility patent is an exclusive right granted to the creator or inventor for an invention, which prevents others from commercially using the protected invention without his authorization for a limited period of time.

Examples include the little green drink stopper Starbucks gives out with its cups or the hoverboard type of skateboards.

Currently India does not offer protection under Utility Patents.

Importance of patents

Increase business valuation

your Business scores a separate identity in the market after a patent registration,. On gaining patents over your work successfully, you can use it in marketing and for building goodwill. it will send a strong signal to investors that you are worth their attention, potentially making it easier to attract funding for further research.

Easy Fund raising

your patent portfolios will give a strong signal to your business partners, investors and shareholders who may perceive your work as a demonstration of the high level of expertise, specialization and technological capacity within your company, that will ultimately help in raising funds, finding business partners and raising your company’s market value.

The competition lead

Any new invention should be patented; otherwise competitors can create identical inventions and call it their own. Even if you don’t intend to develop and commercialize your invention, a patent can stop others from creating a product that may compete with your existing product, effectively keeping competitors at bay of your market and protecting your profitability.

Higher returns

After investing a significant amount of money and time in developing innovative products, you can commercialize the invention to obtain higher returns on investments under your exclusive rights. Your patent portfolio will enhance your bargaining power while getting into licensing agreement with a third party. If you don’t want to commercialize your patent, you may transfer, sell or license the rights to a third party which will be an important source of income for you.

Types of patent applications

Following are the types of application under which you can file a patent.

1. Provisional Application

If you are in the early stage of invention, then you are recommended to file a provisional application to secure your invention and exclude others from commercial exploitation.

• A provisional application is a temporary application which is filed when the invention is not complete and is still under experiment phase.
• It is Less expensive to prepare the draft and file the provisional application
• Provisional application helps in establishing a priority date for your invention.
• Provisional application filing gives you sufficient 12 months time to fully develop your invention and assess market potential and evaluate commercial viability of your product or process. However you must file with complete specification before 12 months of filing provisional application.
• Provisional application enables your right to use the term “patent pending” on your product. Thereby help you establish “priority” right and secure the invention.
• Provisional application will help you file International applications and claim priority within 12 months.
• It is not mandatory to file with provisional specification, you can file application directly with complete specification of your invention

2. Ordinary Application

An application for patent filed with complete specification in the Patent Office without claiming any priority of application in a convention country or without making any reference to any other earlier application. Such an application is called an ordinary application.

3. Convention Application

An application for a patent filed in the Patent Office, claiming a priority date based on the similar application filed in one or more convention countries is known as convention application. An application in the Indian Patent Office must be filled within 12 months from the date of first filing of a similar application in the convention country to get “convention status” of the application.

4. PCT International Application

A PCT Application is an international application which can be filed in more than 150 countries by a single application Under Patent Cooperation Treaty.

The priority date obtained by filing a PCT application is recognized internationally, and it is valid in each of the designated countries.

It gives the applicant 31 months to enter into various countries from the international filing date or the priority date, which is a sufficient time, which is sufficient time to assess the viability of the invention.

It provides an option for requesting an international search report or International Preliminary Examination Report that will help applicants to make more informed choices early in the patent process. Application can be amended in case of any potential conflict with existing patent before the major expenses of the national phase of the patent process begin.

It also gives the applicant a fair understanding on the patentability of the invention before incurring charges for filing and prosecuting applications in each country.

5. PCT National Phase Application

Once an international application is made according to PCT designating India, the national phase application in India can be filed within 31 months from the international filing date or the priority date, whichever is earlier.

6. Patent Of Addition

You can apply for a patent of addition, if you intend to modify the invention which has already been applied for or already obtained a patent. You can go for a patent of addition if the modification in the invention is new.

The main benefit of filing a patent of addition is that you will not have to pay any separate renewal fee for the patent of addition during the term of the main patent and its validity is same as that of the main patent.

7. Divisional Application

When an application claims multiple inventions, the applicant on his own or to address the official objection may divide the application and file multiple applications as applicable for each of the inventions. This type of application, divided out of the main application is known as a Divisional Application. The priority date for all the divisional applications will be the same as that of the main patent (the Parent) Application (Ante-dating).

Documents required for patent application

• Proof of the right to make an application
• Power of Attorney-A letter required on Rs. 100 stamp paper authorizing Legal Babu to file patent application on your behalf.
• Deed of assignment, certificate regarding change in name of the applicant, license agreement.
• Declaration of inventor-ship
• Board resolution/authorization letter –It is required if the applicant is a company.
• Priority document
• Id proof of applicant.