It is necessary to submit the required forms at the patent office to register a design in India. It is easy to submit the forms online if you possess a Class 3 digital certificate.
If you intend to file an online application, the patent office will add an additional 10% as a fee. Listed below is the step-by-step process for filing an online application:
A patent search is the First step
Patent registration will be successful if your invention/idea is non-obvious and unique. In order to ensure this and also to avoid lengthy official procedures, a patent search is necessary. You can conduct a patent search yourself or you can hire an expert. Experts can assist you with your patent search.
If you come across an existing patent with similar features, you can skip the following steps.
Obtain a design patent
To file a patent in India, it is crucial to prepare patent specifications. The entire process of drafting a patent specification requires specialized skills that can only be provided by experienced professionals.
- This involves putting down your idea or concept, along with the main details about your invention and desired patent.
- Inventors should visualize their ideas and elements in the form of diagrams explaining more about their inventions.
- Your idea/invention must meet the following patentability requirements mentioned in the indian patent application status Act for your ideas/inventions to be patentable:
- It’s new
- The non-obviousness
- The usefulness of
- Substances patentable
There is an art to drafting a patent application. Consult a patent professional for help. When you are in the early stages of your research and development process, you should consider filing a provisional patent application, a preliminary application that is optional.
Report on Patentability:
As a result, it will perform extensive research and prepare a patentability report containing analyses based on the criteria mentioned above. All the specified documents should also be submitted with the patent application. Make sure you thoroughly check all the documents before submitting them, so that you do not get rejected.
Application for patent publication
A request for early filing can be made with a prescribed fee, and the patent application will be published within 18 months.
The filing of a patent is published
- The Indian patent office keeps every patent application confidential until it is published in the patent journal for official filing.
- Patents are automatically published 18 months after filing, and no request is needed to publish them
- Patents will be published within one month of the applicant initiating a formal request for advance publication
- Since the inventor is entitled to protect his work legally immediately after publication, the publication date matters most.
Examination of patents
Applicants must submit a formal request for the patent examination within 48 months from the date of the first patent filing (provisional patent or complete patent). In the event that the applicant fails to submit the application within the specified time frame, the patent office will treat it as withdrawn. After conducting a comprehensive investigation, the examiner releases the first examination report, referred to as patent prosecution.
Oppositions to patents
It is common for patent applicants to receive objections, such as “inconsistent or unclear claims” or “inventions that lack novelty”, etc. Consequently, it is important to analyze the patent examination report and respond properly.
The grant of a patent
Patent journal notification will be published once all patentability requirements are met.