Patent Filing Services

Patent Filing & Prosecution :

Patent Prosecution refers to the entire process of getting a patent grant, starting from the filing of the patent application to its grant. It includes all the communications to and from the Patent Office, from the time of filing the patent application to its grant. There are many issues that go into a grant of a patent. Many technical and legal requirements need to be fulfilled while filing a patent application. It includes the steps of filing information disclosure statements, assignments and proper payment of fees.

After filing a patent application with all the necessary documents, the prosecution of the patent will start. This phase can take 3-4 years to complete from the date of filing of the application. After 18 months from the date of filing, the patent application shall be published. The patent application is reviewed by competent Patent Examiners. If there are any discrepancies, the Patent Examiner informs the applicant, whereupon appropriate action is taken. These may include amendment of claims, or classification or drawings that the Examiner feels should be amended. This 'office action' ond 'response to office action' may occur several times before a patent is finally allowed (or rejected).

It should be noted that Indian patent law allows two kinds of opposition, pre-grant opposition and post-grant opposition. Pre-grant opposition can be anytime after the publication of the patent until its grant. Only when a patent is successful in its pre-grant opposition proceedings can it be considered for grant. Also, after the patent is allowed to be published in the Patent Journal, there can be a post-grant opposition. This opposition decides whether the patent should be maintained or not.

At Intepat, for patent filing and assisting in patent prosecution, we provide end-to-end services that include preparing patent applications with client's feedback, filing patent applications, active prosecution and close monitoring of pending patent application that includes preparing response to official action, handling of pre-grant opposition, post-grant opposition and appeals, strategizing amendments for maximizing impact, attending hearings whenever required and tracking the application during examination till grant.

Our specialized team consisting of patent agents and IP attorneys has in-depth understanding of the intrinsic values of patent as well as the experience of successfully handling patent filing & prosecution in India and abroad, and are fully acquainted with the legalities of patent prosecution procedures of different jurisdictions.