Patent Examination Procedure
Patent examination procedure, is started with filling of request for examination form. Its not an automatic process, the FER is start only after filling the request. The request for examination be proceed under 48 month from date of priority.
At the time of Patent examination, the various patentability criteria must be follows:
- Novelty
- Inventive claims
- Complete specification details
- Industrial applicability
- Draft and forms
There are two ways to go about the patent examination procedure: a standard request for examination and an expedited request for examination. Applicants can speed up the examination process by selecting the expedited option. However, under the Patent Act of 2003, the expedited route is only available to certain types of applicants.
Process to file request for examination:
The patent examination is filled by the applicant or their patent agent, the process of filling for FER starts after publication of patent. An individual can file Form 18 with appropriate evidences to support their invention. The necessity steps taken while filling includes, Form 18 has to be filed all the specified details with patent application number, date of prior filing with fees.
Roles of Patent examiner after received Application:
- The patent examiner’s additional duties for reviewing a patent application also include following:
- Conduct thorough research of the application and create a report in accordance with section 12.
- To carry out a cross-office search encompassing all four patent offices; To raise concerns rather than provide suggestions regarding incomplete forms.
- The report of the Examiner will: be a permanent component of a document’s note sheet and incapable of being changed by the Controller.
- Include a draught summary or gist of the objections, editable by the controller; Describe any changes to the entire specification.
What is FER, First Examination Report?
After reviewing the patent application, the Patent Office sends the patent applicant an examination report, commonly referred to as the FER. This is delivered to the controller by the examiner. It frequently comprises prior art that is related to the innovation being claimed. In this context, “prior art” refers to earlier published works that are comparable to the claimed innovation. It is not required to be bought commercially. It is only proof that the alleged invention is already well known.
Within a year of the FER’s issuance, the applicant must respond to any objections and put the application in place for grant (First Examination Report). In this instance as well, if the examination response. In this instance, the application is also regarded as abandoned if the response to the examination report isn’t submitted within the allotted time period of 12 months.
If a third party does not submit or maintain a pre-grant objection after the patented invention is determined to be in condition for granting, the patent is issued.
Expedited Request for examination:
Expedited examination is filed by the applicant to accelerate the examination time period. It is placed under Patent Rule 24 C. Your application was queued in a different list after you submitted an expedited request for examination. That will lead to the examination process sooner and reduce the time period.
The expedited examination process is not open to everyone; under the law, some specific people are allowed to fill the expedited request and accelerate the examination process.
Who can file for expedited examination in India?
According to the Indian Patent Act, an applicant who meets this specific criteria can only submit an expedited request for examination.
- If an applicant files a PCT application and wishes to have it expedited, they must select India as their International Search Authority.
- Under the Patent Rules of 2003, a start-up can file for expedited processing.
- Small entities, as defined by Rule(2fa), may also be eligible.
- Females are eligible for the process.
- One special case, the applicant is eligible for the expedited examination process, is if they process an international application and come under an agreement between the Indian Patent Office and the International Patent Authority.
Process of Expedited request for examination:
- An applicant can file a request for expedited examination by filling out Form 18A with the prescribed fee. The best part is that expedited requests can be filed by electronic transmission within 48 months from the date of filing.
- The applicant also needs to file an early publication request in parallel with an expedited request to make the whole process go into a queue.
- After submitting the request for examination, the controller refers the examination through the published application to the examiner.
- The examiner examines the patent application and issues a first report in one month. The controller then completes the report and issues it within 5 days of receiving it from the examiner.
- The time limit may vary if any opposition comes along with publication or any other step in the pre-grant process.
Conclusion:
The request for examination is an essential process to enter the next phase of the pre-grant procedure. An expedited request for examination is one of the best ways to expedite the patent grant process. It reduces the time acquired in the patent process and secures your research in this innovative world. The benefit of expedited FER is that it takes less time than a standard application. The applicant easily files it by filling out Form 18 with the appropriate fee.
The expedited way encourages inventors to broaden the list of applicants for them, making the process four times faster. For professional advice regarding the patent process, Lexgin IP has a professional team that can guide you through it and make it easier.
