A patent application after filing will ordinarily be published in 18 months unless request for early publication is made in the prescribed manner.

Post publication the application will be reviewed by the patent examiner at Patent Office. A report on patentability also known as First Examination Report (FER) is sent to the applicant.

The Examiner mainly examines the application on certain criteria and if these are taken care off while patent drafting, one is sure to secure the patent provided there is no pre-grant opposition.

  1. Novelty (not anticipated in prior art)
  2. Inventive Step (not obvious)
  3. Industrial Applicability (usefulness)
  4. Non-Patentability (u/s 3 of Patent Act 1970)
  5. Unity of invention (one patent – one invention)
  6. Sufficiency of disclosure (Abstract, Drawings, Origin of biological material)
  7. Is there any co-pending foreign application
  8. Clarity/Conciseness in the drafted claims
  9. Claims to be supported by description of the invention
  10. Scope of the claims or Definitiveness (claims should define the invention)
  11. Form 3 (Statement & Undertaking be submitted)
  12. Format of specifications (Claims should be written as per format)
  13. Permission from National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)
  14. Date & Signature of applicant