A patent application can be defined as the request for the issuance of patent, for the invention, that the applicant has claimed and described. It refers to both, the physical document embodying the invention’s claims and description, as well as the judicial and administrative proceedings associated with the plea for the grant of patent protection. Along with the description, the official forms and correspondences relevant to the invention, must also be included in the application. As per the inventor’s insight, the best manner to put the invention into practice, in addition to its illustrations, have to be incorporated in the description.
The application includes an oath, whereby it is attested by the inventors that, as per their understanding, the invention complies with all the requirements of the Patent Laws. The application is then followed by claims that specify the level of protection offered for the revealed technology.
The patent application along with the oath and the requisite fees are submitted to the Patent Office. nothing new can be added to the application after its submission, even if it turns out that prior disclosure of the details of the invention was insufficient. For the purported scope of protection, the precise wording of the details of the invention or the disclosure’s main focus be amended. Nonetheless, nothing new or substantive can be added. Consequently, it is pertinent to disclose everything upfront.
If the invention is still in the experimental phase, a provisional application shall be filed. 12 months after which a complete application needs to be submitted. A complete application may also be filed directly. Patent applications have a wide geographic scope. An application filed with the national Patent Office is known as National Application. Further, depending upon the country in which patent protection is sought by the applicant, a separate application in each nation may be filed accordingly. To simplify things, a PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) Application may be filed, to seek simultaneous protection in all member-nations.