Can a Provisional Patent be Rejected?

A patent’s success not only depends on how unique and new the product or process is, but also is dependent on how brilliantly the specification documents are drafted. The Patent Act, 1970 puts forth 2 types of patent specifications videlicet the provisional specification and the complete specification.

The part of the documents can veritably well be derived from their names. The provisional specification is the primary document that's submitted by the innovator, to gain the precedence date of the invention.

This is the main part of the provisional specification. By filing the provisional patent operation, the innovator can attach the “ patent- pending ” label to the products and begin the marketing without having to stay for the patent itself.

The complete specification has to be filed within 12 months from the date of filing the provisional specification. While the provisional specification outlines the details of the invention astronomically, the complete specification, as the name suggests, gives the entire details about the specification, including the background of the invention, its colorful images, the stylish system to perform the invention, and most importantly the claims the innovator makes pertaining to the exclusivity of the invention.

Contents of a Provisional Patent operation

The provisional specification is submitted at the foremost possible, once the innovator is struck with an innovative path- breaking idea. It might take weeks, if not months, together to materialize an idea.

But staying to formulate an idea fully and also filing non-provisional or a complete specification, can beget overdue detention and might lead to the innovator losing out on the precedence date. Hence filing a provisional specification would be an comprehensible move for an innovator.

Since a provisional specification is filed at a veritably primitive stage, the specification can not be anticipated to be total. A provisional specification basically contains the following factors

• The title of the invention( It has to be mentioned whether it's a product or a process or a system)
• The preamble of the invention( the preamble starts with the words ‘ The following specification describes mentions the invention)
• The description of the invention, wherein the field, the background, and the object of the invention are stated
• Claims may or may not be a part of the provisional specification and are generally reserved for the complete specification.

Examination of the Provisional Specification

Once the specification documents are submitted at the quested time intervals, the patent office examines the operation. This is to corroborate if the patent can be granted or not.

The specification is checked to find out if the invention possesses the introductory conditions of novelty, oneness, and artificial mileage. Further, it shouldn't fall within the dimension of reprehensible inventions as enlisted in the Patents Act, 1970.

The aspirant has to file for the patent operation to be examined through Form 18 within 48 months from the precedence date. However, the operation will be supposed to be withdrawn, If the innovator fails to file the request from examination. The aspirant can also make a request for expedited examination through Form 18A.

Having said that, an examination of a patent operation is an elaborate and total process. In order to examine if a patent can be granted the specification should be examined end- to- end. For this very reason, a provisional specification isn't examined, for it doesn't comprise the details of the entire invention.

It's the practice to examine the complete specification and a patent is granted grounded on the content of the complete specification.

The complete specification is thus the factual patent operation. On the other hand, if there should be any disagreement, the patent is fulfilled or abrogated based on the details mentioned in the complete specification again.

It's in fact true that the provisional specification is in no way considered a “ provisional patent ” as no similar thing exists in reality. The main purpose of a provisional specification is to simply fix the precedence date of the invention.

Due to the limited information it holds, and not to forget the fact that a much more detailed exposure of the invention is filed in the complete specification, the provisional specification is in no way really examined by the patent office. It's simply vindicated to check if it meets the introductory form conditions.

Can a Provisional Patent operation be Rejected?

A provisional patent operation most frequently doesn't have the claims and hence can not be rejected on a strict basis. A patent operation has to be examined in the first place to either entitlement or reject the patent.

A provisional operation doesn't have the entire content of the invention to be examined and hence can not be rejected nor can a patent be granted slightly on the base of the provisional specification. A provisional specification is thus a placeholder that gets the precedence date for the invention.

It's for this purpose that numerous seasoned attorneys and formulators skip the provisional patent operation and go ahead directly to file the complete specification. One may wonder about the fate of inadequately drafted provisional specifications.

It simply doesn't serve its purpose and it can be used against the innovator in the execution stage to state that the innovator no way had a real product at hand and that the invention no way had materialized to the stage of a working model.

Conclusion-

Thus, whether a provisional patent operation can be rejected or not, it's of utmost significance that it needs to be drafted as strictly as possible.