Types of protection

Patent Application: A patent application claims no priority of application made or does not refer to any other existing application under process with the Patent Office. The term of protection of an Indian patent is 20 years from the date of filing of the application.

Convention Application: A Convention Application can be filed by an applicant claiming a priority date based on a comparable application filed in a convention country. Within 12 months from the date of first filing of the similar application, the applicant must file the application in an Indian Patent Office in the convention country.

Application for Patent of Addition: An application for Patent of Addition allows the applicant to gain an international filing date in all the designated countries to the national offices conferring late entry, up to 31 months, without affecting the priority date. This is the most thorough method for applicants that wish to seek protection for their inventions in many countries.¹

Design Patent: Design Patents protect only the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or composition of lines or color or combination thereof applied to any article whether two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means, whether manual, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye, but does not include any mode or principle or construction or anything which is in substance a mere mechanical device, and does not include any trade mark, as define in clause (v) of sub-section of Section 2 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, property mark or artistic works as defined under Section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957. The duration of the registration of a design is initially ten years from the date of registration, but in cases where claim to priority has been allowed the duration is ten years from the priority date. This initial period of registration may be extended by further period of 5 years on an application made in Form-3 accompanied by prescribed fees to the Controller before the expiry of the said initial period of ten years.²

Provisional Patent: Provisional specifications can be used to secure a priority date for an application. They describe the nature of the invention without claims, and should contain the title and description of the invention. A full specification, including claims and an abstract, must be submitted within 12 months of the provisional filing.