Patent Grant Within One Year
A patent application may take a substantial amount of time to be examined and, if appropriate, granted. A general/regular route of the patent grant can take between 3 to 5 years from the filing date. An application, once made, will get published after 18 months after the filing date, and this has to be followed by a request for examination within 48 months. The invention is consequently placed in a queue to generate examination reports. This process as a whole is highly time-consuming and can further get delayed based on the opposition.
While for some patent applicants, filing patent applications and waiting for the patent grant via a long route may be sufficient. But sometimes, getting an early patent grant is particularly important, especially for start-ups. This could help when planning to sell or license the patent or seek investor and related advantages.
Steps for fast patent grant in India
An applicant can get a patent grant within one year through the following means:
1. Early publication
2. Expedited patent examination
The early publication can be requested by way of an application made through Form 9. This is when an applicant requests his application to be published before the expiry of 18 months. The patent application for making the early publication requests gets published within a month of making such a request, and this is explicitly allowed through Section 11-A (2). The Controller is mandated under Rule 24 of the Patent Rules to publish such an application within one month of receiving the request.
The expedited examination has to be requested by application through Form 18A. This request has to be accompanied by a request for early publication made. Such an application regarding which a request for expedited examination has to be as per the norms and must accompany complete specifications. The examiner is bound by Rule 24C of Patent Rules, 2003, to prepare a report within two months from receipt of such request. Also, a request for expedited examination can be filed at the beginning of a later stage. Thus, an ordinary examination request can be converted into an expedited examination request by paying the stipulated fee.
The Controller is mandated to dispose of the examination report within one month of receipt of such a report. The first statement of objection shall further be issued within 15 days. The time frame provided to put the application for a grant is six months from the date of the issue of the first examination report. An extension of six months can be requested by way of an application made through Form 4 for a period not extending three months (before the expiry of 6 months). The application shall be disposed of within three months of receipt of the last reply to the first statement of objection or the grant order. This time limitation for an order of grant and disposal of application is subject to pre-grant oppositions.
Who are eligible for fast expedited examinations:
The following applicants (natural and legal) can request an expedited examination as per the new patent amendment rule 2019:
1. A Start-up (defined in Rule 2(fb) of Patent Rules)
2. A Small Entity (defined in Rule 2(fa) of Patent Rules)
3. A female (when there are joint applicants, at least one of them must be female)
4. A Government undertaking (defined in Section 2(1) (h) of the Patents Act, 1970), or government-owned, financed, or established authority/company.
5. Any application whereby India has been chosen as the appropriate International Searching Authority or International Preliminary Examination Authority (in cases of PCT International patent application filed).
Both early publication and expedited examination must be requested to expect an early patent grant.
Documents required to be submitted to support the claim for early grant of patent
The patent application should comprise the following documents – application form, authorization form to authorize representation by an agent, complete specification, statement and undertaking in Form 3, declaration as to inventorship, proof of endorsement by assignment, authorization document from National Biological Authority in case the application pertains to a biological material from India. Along with these documents, the following documents must be submitted to support the claim for expedited examination.
1. Certificate of recognition as a start-up by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion or Evidence of Registration under SME
2. Form 28 – a declaration submitting that the organization is a small entity or start-up, along with evidence of the same.
3. Form 9 – request for Early publication
4. Form 18A – Request for expedited examination of an application for patent
5. Form 30 – A self-declaration letter by the applicant for claiming fees under the SIPP scheme. [This form is used when there is no specific form prescribed for a filing]
6. Other relevant documents.
How can Intepat help you?
Intepat has had many successful patents granted within a year. Some of such patent grants are:
1. Patent no. 303973, titled “An Intravenous Dripper System For Automatic Monitoring, Controlling, And Notification Of A Fluid,” was granted within seven months of filing.
2. Patent no. 313063, titled “A Hybrid Ferroelectric Discotic Liquid Crystal Solar Cell,” was granted within 11 months of filing.
3. Patent no. 307908, titled ” Virtual Smart Card For Banking And Payments,” was granted within eight months of filing.
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