Advantages And Disadvantages Of Patent Filing In India For An Invention

A patent is a type of right granted to the inventor. This patent application gives them full rights for creating and selling an invention with copyright permission. These are given for a specific period. During this tenure, the discovery gets protection from other businesses, individuals, or organizations. No one will be allowed legally to create or sell anything that will be similar to that discovery. In other words, a patent will guarantee you that the only one who will have profit from the invention will be the owner itself.

When the patent remains valid, the owner can offer another organization or company the license or permission for manufacturing the technology, product or design declared in the agreement. The patent owner usually deals with the companies in this path when he/she does not want to sell the full rights. In simple terms, a patent filing in India will offer control on how to make, sell or use a product, design, or technology invented by you.

Process of Patent Application in India

The legal and the first representative of the invention can file a patent in India. You can apply for the patent personally or jointly with the patent attorney that will require legitimate assignment proof. You can submit a patent application directly to the Official patent office in India or through the patent cooperation treaty with the corresponding or conversational patent applications in India. The patent offices are located in four metropolitan cities of India which are Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai.

When you file for a patent application directly in the patent offices, it must include a full specification. However, for patent filing or PCT, the patent must file the complete invention specification. Inventors often file a provisional application when the discovery is in the processor requires some modifications. However, you have to file the full project specifications within one year from the provisional patent application issue date. When the inventor goes for a patent application with a full description, design, specifications, and other details, the examiner would consider converting the provisional patent rights to non-provisional and permanent ones.

The specifications for filing a provisional patent application should include a title with a short description and title, drawing if the discovery demands so. In the case of converting the provisional patent application, there should also be the best mode description with the other details already mentioned. You will not be able to file for a provisional patent application in India if it is already rejected or fined in other countries. It is also applicable if the patent is a PCT one. You have to make sure that every patent application should include only original ideas and concepts. If you think that you cannot handle all this application process, you can hire a professional patent attorney in India who will take care of the entire process at an affordable rate.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Indian Patent Filing

To make an authentic and well-informed decision, the investor should be well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the Indian Patent filing. Let’s have a quick look at each of them.

Pros

Most of the time, an investor requires a financial backup or aid from the investors for selling their idea. It might have a chance of theft of their concepts or ideas. Thus if they file for a patent before approaching them, they will have a warranty that no one can steal their discovery.
The patent will allow the person to be a monopoly in the market. The inventor will be the only ones who can sell, distribute, export, and import the product, design, or technology; they might earn a lot of profit. No matter how small the profit margin, people will buy the product since you will be the only one is ruling the market. The financial advantages of the patents will be the largest allure.
An inventor only knows how to improve the quality of the existing products and enhance it better. In this situation, the discovery owner can file for a patent to ensure that anyone else will not start manufacturing the design, technology, or product and begin designing it.
The patent owner can ask for a premium for creating the invention as there is no other similar item in the market.
If the inventor does not want to manufacture the invention, they might sell the license or grant manufacturing permission to the other company. Here the discovery owner will get a royalty when every sale occurs. It will be beneficial for those who do not have sufficient money to market the invention.

Cons

An invention disclosure is one of the biggest drawbacks of the Indian Patent Filing. Since the audience is aware of the technical data, anyone can recreate it. That is why some of the patent owners want to keep the discovery a secret.
A patent filing comes with lawsuit threats. Competitors always find some way or the other for invalidating the patent or file a case against infringement. In other cases, people might even claim injunctions or damages, both of which require an ample amount of money and time.
The patent filing process is not only extended but also time-consuming. It might take years before the authorities grant the patent, which means there is a high risk for the technology becoming obsolete and market altering risk.

Final Words

When anyone contemplates the pros and cons of the patent file in the India process, the return will always win hands down. But you should consider each aspect carefully. Compare if the advantages will overcome the drawbacks before filing for a patent application. For a start-up company in the initial stage, patent filing in India means a lot of complexity or cost, but it can also be one of the stepping stones for success.