What are the steps to patent your R&D innovation?

First and most important aspect is to identify the invention. What you want to patent or protect. Along with that at this stage only, you also have to clear your WHY. Why you want to patent this because it will play a critical role while defining the IP strategy of your business going forward.

Identifying your invention is only half the rent. You might also want to identify, strategically, which technical windows you desire to protect. Therefore, there should be content reaching out over what you developed.

Once you decide about your invention, perform prior art search to decide the patentability of your invention not only as per your home country but considering your future business interest country. Based on prior art search and patentability analysis, if it's found patentable, you can move to drafting of the patent application. Make sure you have proper expertise to draft the patent application as it's a technical legal documents and need understanding of Both technical invention as well as laws of patent. If you do not have that expertise, take help from professionals to avoid any blunder in the patent drafting.

It proves extremely valuable in the long run to not only consider the rules of your local Patent Office, but to define your international roll-out strategy as soon as possible. You might ideally want to prepare your first application so that it complies with all of the intended Patent Offices, local requirements.

Once you have your patent specification ready, go and file it at appropriate patent office along with other required Forms. If filing through patent attorney, you also have to submit power of attorney. At that time also decide about your future fling. If you are planning to file patent in multiple countries, go for filing PCT application within 12 months from your first filing of non provisional patent. It will secure your provisional right in PCT member states for additional 18/19 months.

After filling off your patent application, and filing request for examination, the patent office will perform the examination and will issue objection report with list of cited documents and and any other objections. You have to comply to all objections either by way of justification or by amending the claims. Kindly keep in mind the timeline for submission of reply to the objection report to avoid abandonment of your patent application.

Die Einw?nde k?nnen argumenativ ausger?umt werden, z. B. wenn sich aus der Analyse ergibt, dass wichtige Textpassagen zur Abgrenzung der Erfindung noch nicht gewürdigt wurden. Alternativ und der h?ufigere Fall muss die Erfindung pr?zisiert werden, um den gesetzlichen Anforderungen an ein Patent, oft Neuheit und erfinderischen T?tigkeit, zu genügen. Pr?zisierung ist dabei strategisch wichtig, da die Aufnahme von Merkmalen auch den sp?teren Schutzgegenstand in der Regel beschr?nkt.

After submission of your reply to objection report, if patent examiner is satisfied with your reply, you may get grant of patent. But if not satisfied with reply, you may get chance to represent your case via hearing. After hearing if patent examiner is satisfied, you will get grant of your patent. If you are not able to satisfy or comply all objections, your patent will be rejected.

1) Searching 2) Identification of novelty and inventive step of invention 3) Drafting complete specification 4) Submission of application 5) Reply of objections depicted in examination report 6) Patent grant/ hearing for further clearance then grant 7) It will be rejected in case you failed to show your confidence in front of examiner

Please remeber that filing patent applications is not a free of cost process: the whole process from patent searches, drafting, examination, granting and maintenance after grant comes with a cost. In particular if you are a SME or a physical person, you can decide to save money with a DIY approach at certain steps. However, this might result in more costs at a later stage when you have to rely on a IP professional to fix issues. So, be aware of expenses, plan ahead and ask for advice to IP professionals.

Do always consider that it is rather easy to get a patent granted. For every innovation, you will normally be able to get your patent granted. However, the most important thing is that you gain a valuable patent, and not a narrow patent. So, the goal is normally not to get a patent granted for your invention, but rather to strategically define a broad patent application that goes way beyond your specific development, so that you will be able to get a commercially valuable asset. That is what a patent must be, otherwise, it would just be another picture on the wall. A patent procedure is an investment, and the outcome must justify the investment. It is a commercial tool.