The Governing Law :-

The Patents Act, 1970 (as amended from time to time) The Patents Rules, 2003 (as amended from time to time) Types of Patent Applications :-

Following types of patent applications can be made in India

1. Ordinary application

2. Convention application

3. PCT international application

4. PCT National phase application

5. Application for Patent of addition

6. Divisional Application Ordinary Application An application for patent made in the Patent Office without claiming any priority of application made in a convention country or without any reference to other application under process in the office is called an ordinary application. Convention Application When an applicant comes to the patent office with an application claiming a priority date based on a similar application filed in one of the convention country, it is called a convention application (by virtue of Paris Convention). To get a convention status an applicant should file the application in Indian patent office within twelve months from the date of first filing of a similar application in the convention country. A convention application should be accompanied by a complete specification.

PCT International Application PCT is an international filing system for patents in which the applicant gets an international filing date in all the designated countries conferring the late entry (up to 31 months) to the national offices without affecting the priority date. This is a simple and economical procedure for those applicants seeking protection for the inventions in many countries. Indian Patent Office is a receiving office for international applications by nationals or residents of India. An international application shall be filed with the appropriate office in triplicate in respect of he ad office and quadruplicate in respect of branch offices, either in English or in Hindi language (Rule 19(1». PCT-National Phase Application (8.7 (1)(A)) An international application (S.2 (1)(ia» made according to Patent Cooperation Treaty (S.2 (1)( a) designating India can enter national phase within 31 months from the international filing date. This application filed before the Controller in the Indian Patent Office claiming the priority and international filing date is called PCTNational Phase application. Applicant can enter national phase with a request made on white paper. The filing date of the application ... shall be the international filing date accorded under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (S. 10( 4A) It is not mandatory for the applicant to submit the documents while entering the national phase for filing the application in the designated or elected member countries, as it is obligatory on the part of WIPO to send those things to the designated offices Patent Registration Coimbatore.

However, for convenience and faster processing the applicant may submit the necessary documents. Office may ask for any other documents, which are necessary in addition to what was submitted along with the application.Addition When an applicant feels that he has come across an invention which is a slight modification on the invention for which he has already applied for / have patent the applicant can go for pat~nt of addition since the invention does not involve a substantial inventive step. It is also possible to convert an independent patent to a patent of addition at a later date if the subject matter was an improvement in or modification to a main invention for which he holds a patent. A patent of addition remains in force only as long as the patent for the original invention emains in force and no renewal fees are payable in respect thereof. In case the original patent is revoked, the patent of addition may be made as independent patent by the authority ordering the evocation and it will continue thereafter for the unexpired terms of the original patent subject to the payment of the prescribed renewal fees. More details regarding Patents of addition is given in the later Chapter of this Booklet Patent Registration Coimbatore.

Patent of Divisional Application (S.16) When the application made by an applicant claims more than one invention the applicant on his own request or to meet the official objection raised by Controller may divide the application and file two or more applications as applicable for each of the inventions. This type of application divided out of the parent one is called divisional application. The priority date for all the divisional applications will be same as that claimed by the parent application (Ante dating). The complete specification of the divisional application should not include any matter not in substance disclosed in the complete specification of the first application. The reference of parent application should be made in the body of the specification Patent Registration Coimbatore.