Patents Act · Chapter IV

Publication and Examination of Applications

Chapter IV of the Patents Act, 1970 contains 15 sections, of which 3 have been omitted. Each one has its own page with a plain-language explanation, a worked Indian example, the forms and deadlines it touches, and the rules it connects to.

Ch I Ch II Ch III Ch IV Ch IVA Ch V Ch VI Ch VII Ch VIII Ch IX Ch X Ch XI Ch XII Ch XIII Ch XIV Ch XV Ch XVI Ch XVII Ch XVIII Ch XIX Ch XX Ch XXI Ch XXII Ch XXIII

Sections in this chapter

In force

Omitted

11A–24

Section numbers

11APublication of applicationsKeeps applications confidential until publication, normally eighteen months from the earliest date, and gives the applicant limited rights from publication until grant.
11BRequest for examinationRequires a request for examination to be filed within the prescribed period, failing which the application is treated as withdrawn.
12Examination of applicationDirects the Controller to refer a requested application to an examiner and sets out what the examiner must report on.
13Search for anticipation by previous publication and by prior claimRequires the examiner to search Indian and other prior art for anticipation by earlier publication and by prior claiming, without warranting validity.
14Consideration of report of examiner by ControllerRequires the Controller to tell the applicant the gist of adverse objections and to give a hearing before deciding against the application.
15Power of Controller to refuse or require amended applications, etc., in certain casesEmpowers the Controller to refuse an application, or to require it or its specification to be amended, where the law's requirements are not met.
16Power of Controller to make orders respecting division of applicationAllows an applicant to file a divisional application before grant where the claims of the parent cover more than one invention.
17Power of Controller to make orders respecting dating of applicationLets the Controller move a patent application's date forward, on request, by up to six months from the date it was actually filed.
18Powers of Controller in cases of anticipationSays what the Controller may do when an examiner reports that the claimed invention was already published or already claimed by an earlier application.
19Powers of Controller in case of potential infringementLets the Controller require a public notice in a specification where working the claimed invention would probably infringe a claim of another live patent.
20Powers of Controller to make orders regarding substitution of applicants, etc.Allows the Controller to change who a pending application belongs to where an assignment, agreement or death shows another person is entitled.
21Time for putting application in order for grantFixes the deadline for meeting every outstanding requirement on an application; miss it and the application is treated as abandoned.
22Acceptance of complete specification OmittedAn omitted provision that once required the Controller to formally accept a complete specification before a patent could move towards sealing.
23Advertisement of acceptance of complete specification OmittedAn omitted provision that once required the Patent Office to advertise, in the Official Gazette, that a complete specification had been accepted.
24Effect of acceptance of complete specification OmittedAn omitted provision that once gave an applicant patent-like privileges from the advertisement of acceptance until the patent was sealed.