Indian patent terms in plain English

A

Abandonment

An application is treated as abandoned when a step required by the Act or the Rules — most often putting the application in order for grant within the prescribed period — is not completed in time. Abandonment is generally final.

Abstract

A short technical summary of the invention filed with the specification. It is used for searching and publication and does not define the scope of protection.

Anticipation

A finding that the invention was already disclosed before the priority date, by publication, prior claiming, public knowledge, public use or public display. Anticipation destroys novelty.

Applicant

The person or entity applying for the patent. This may be the inventor, an assignee, or a legal representative — it is not automatically the inventor.

Assignment

A transfer of ownership of a patent or application. It must be in writing and duly executed, and it should be registered in the Register of Patents.

C

Claim

A numbered statement at the end of a complete specification that defines the legal scope of the monopoly. Infringement and validity are both judged against the claims.

Complete specification

The full technical document describing the invention, how it works, the best method of performing it, and ending with claims. It is what the patent is finally granted on.

Compulsory licence

A licence the Controller can grant to a third party over a patent, after three years from grant, on statutory grounds such as unmet public requirements, unaffordable pricing, or the invention not being worked in India.

Controller

The Controller of Patents — the officer who decides applications, oppositions, restorations and other proceedings before the Patent Office. Decisions of the Controller can be appealed to the High Court.

Convention application

An application in India that claims the priority date of an earlier application filed in a notified convention country, within the convention period.

D

Divisional application

A further application carved out of a parent application, usually where the parent claimed more than one invention. It keeps the parent's filing date.

Docketing

The professional practice of recording and monitoring every statutory deadline on a file. Most lost Indian applications are docketing failures, not legal defeats.

E

Examiner

The technical officer who searches the prior art and reports on patentability. The examiner reports to the Controller; the Controller decides.

Expedited examination

A faster examination track available to specified categories of applicant, requested on the prescribed form under Rule 24C.

F

FER

First Examination Report — the first consolidated statement of objections issued to the applicant. Its issue starts the period within which the application must be put in order for grant.

FFL

Foreign filing licence — the common name for the written permission an Indian resident may need before applying for a patent outside India, requested on Form 25 under Section 39 and Rule 71.

First Schedule

The schedule to the Patents Rules that sets out official fees. Fees differ by applicant category and by whether filing is electronic or physical.

G

Grace period

A limited allowance under which certain disclosures made shortly before filing do not defeat novelty. It is narrow and should never be relied on as a filing strategy.

Grant

The stage at which the patent is actually granted and becomes enforceable. Rights that accrue from publication cannot be sued on until grant.

I

Industrial application

The requirement that an invention be capable of being made or used in an industry. It is one of the three positive requirements of patentability.

Infringement

Doing, without authority, an act that the patent reserves to the patentee — making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing — measured against the claims.

Inventive step

A feature of an invention that involves technical advance compared to existing knowledge or has economic significance, or both, and that is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.

IPAB

The Intellectual Property Appellate Board, abolished by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021. Its patent jurisdiction moved to the High Courts. Older judgments and articles still refer to it.

L

Lapse

The state of a granted patent whose renewal fee has not been paid within the permitted period. A lapsed patent can sometimes be restored within the statutory window.

Licence of right

A repealed mechanism under which certain patents were treated as automatically available for licensing. The provisions were omitted from the Act.

N

National phase

The stage at which an international PCT application enters a particular country's system. India's national phase entry deadline runs from the earliest priority date.

Novelty

The requirement that the invention was not disclosed anywhere in the world before the priority date. Indian novelty is absolute — your own prior disclosure counts.

O

Omitted provision

A section or rule that has been removed by amendment. The number is retained rather than reused, so older citations still make sense. Omitted provisions have pages on this site marked Omitted.

Opposition Board

The body constituted to examine a post-grant opposition and make a recommendation to the Controller.

P

Patent agent

A person registered under the Act who may act for applicants before the Patent Office. Registration requires prescribed qualifications and a qualifying examination.

Patent of addition

A patent for an improvement or modification of an invention already the subject of a main patent, held by the same patentee, and expiring with the main patent.

PCT

The Patent Cooperation Treaty — a single international application that preserves filing options in member countries. It is not a world patent; national phase entry is still required.

Person interested

A person with a real stake in the patent, such as a competitor or a researcher in the field. Standing as a person interested is required for post-grant opposition and revocation.

Person skilled in the art

The notional, unimaginative but fully informed technician in the relevant field, against whose knowledge obviousness is judged.

Post-grant opposition

An opposition filed by a person interested within one year of publication of the grant, decided after an Opposition Board recommendation.

Pre-grant representation

A representation against grant, which any person may file after publication and before grant. Also loosely called pre-grant opposition.

Prior art

Everything made available to the public before the priority date, anywhere in the world, in any language or form — patents, papers, product manuals, talks, videos, sales.

Priority date

The date from which novelty and inventive step are judged for a claim. It is usually the date of the earliest application disclosing that subject matter.

Provisional specification

A first filing that describes the invention as far as it has been developed and fixes a date, to be followed by a complete specification within the prescribed period.

Publication

The point at which an application becomes public, ordinarily eighteen months from the priority date, or earlier on request.

R

Register of Patents

The official record of granted patents and dealings in them — assignments, licences, renewals and corrections. It is open to public inspection.

Renewal fee

The periodic fee that keeps a granted patent in force. Non-payment within the permitted period causes the patent to cease.

Restoration

The process of reviving a patent that has ceased for non-payment of a renewal fee, available within the statutory window where the failure was unintentional.

Revocation

The cancellation of a granted patent on statutory grounds, sought by a person interested, by the Central Government, or as a counter-claim in an infringement suit.

RFE

Request for Examination — the request that must be filed for an application to be examined at all. Miss it and the application is treated as withdrawn.

S

Second Schedule

The schedule to the Patents Rules that prescribes the official forms. Always download the current version from the Patent Office.

Secrecy direction

A direction that an invention relevant for defence purposes must not be published or communicated. It carries strict consequences and periodic review.

Section 3

The section listing what are not inventions. It is the most frequently raised objection in Indian patent prosecution.

Specification

The description of the invention filed with the application — provisional or complete. The complete specification ends with the claims.

Sufficiency

The requirement that the specification disclose the invention fully enough for a skilled person to perform it. Insufficiency is a ground of revocation.

Surrender

A patentee's voluntary offer to give up the patent, which is advertised and open to opposition before the Controller accepts it.

T

Term

Twenty years from the date of filing of the application, for every Indian patent, subject to renewal.

Territoriality

The principle that patent rights exist only in the country that granted them. An Indian patent gives no rights abroad.

True and first inventor

The person who actually made the invention. It does not include a person who merely imported the invention into India or to whom it was communicated from abroad.

U

Unity of invention

The requirement that a single application relate to a single invention or a group of inventions linked to form a single inventive concept.

W

Working of a patent

Commercial use of the patented invention in India. Working is reported on Form 27 and is central to compulsory licence proceedings.

Written opinion

The opinion on patentability issued with an international search report in the PCT system. It is not binding on the Indian Patent Office.