It is known to us that the types of patents filed at the Indian Patent Office are of two types, i.e. Provisional patent applications and complete patent applications. Briefly, a provisional application is a preliminary patent application which is drafted and filed to secure an early date of priority. However, a complete patent application is the final application which is filed, examined and prosecuted by the Indian Patent Office.
Much like the patent system in India, the Australian patent system also allows the filing of standard patents and provisional patents. In addition to this, the Australian Patent Office also enables the inventors/applicants to file for an innovation patent, which seems to be attracting the attention of many Indian innovators in recent times. In this article, we will briefly read about standard patents and innovation patents and understand the difference between the two.
- Standard Patent Applications & Innovation Patent Applications
Standard patent application: The standard patent application filed by inventors at the Australian Patent Office is identical to the complete patent application filed at the Indian Patent Office. Once granted, the standard patent application provides 20 years of protection to an invention from the date of filing of the application. The criteria followed by the Australian Patent Office is much like that of the Indian Patent Office, i.e. for an invention to be patentable in Australia, the invention must satisfy the below-mentioned criteria:
- Novelty
- Non-obviousness
- Industrial applicability
Once filed, the Australian Patent Office takes 6 months to a couple of years to examine the standard patent application to ensure that the patent meets their legislative requirements after which the patent will be granted.
Innovation patent application: An innovation patent application provides an inventor with tight timelines and low budget an opportunity to secure a granted patent. The innovation patent is meant for patents which have a short technological lifecycle such as computer-related invention which become redundant in a short span of time due to the dynamic nature of technology. An innovation patent provides protection over an invention for a period of 8 years from the date of filing and is particularly awarded to inventions which do not meet one of the criteria of patentability, i.e. inventive step.
The criterion for granting an innovation patent is that the invention must have an innovation step rather than an inventive step, i.e. the invention must have features which are better than the existing patents and these incremental features must contribute substantially to the working of the invention. The innovation patent protects such incremental features of an existing technology and is granted in a short span of one month from the date of filing the patent application as the innovation patent application does not necessarily undergo examination before being granted. However, the innovation patent is not legally enforceable if it is not examined before being granted. The examiner at the Australian Patent Office examines the innovation patent application upon filing a special request subsequent to which the examiner checks if the application is matching the legal requirements as per Patents Act, 1990.
Unfortunately, the Australian Patent Office has decided to phase-out the concept of innovation patent in order to provide an equal opportunity for all applicants. The last day to file an innovation patent application is 25th August 2021 and the applications which have been filed on or before 25th August 2021 will continue to remain in-force till their expiry as per Patents Act, 1990.
Standard Patent Applications vs Innovation Patent Applications
| Innovation Patent Application | Standard Patent Application |
| Criteria of Patentability:
· Novelty · Industrial applicability · Innovative step |
Criteria of Patentability:
· Novelty · Industrial applicability · Inventive step |
| Anatomy of the patent application:
· Title · Description · Up to 5 claims · Abstract · Drawings · Forms |
Anatomy of the patent application:
· Title · Description · Any number of claims · Abstract · Drawings · Forms |
| Application is granted if patentability criteria is satisfied. However, cannot be enforced legally without examination. | Application is granted if patentability criteria is satisfied as per Patents Act, 1990. |
| Examination is optional if legal enforceability is required. The request for examination maybe applied by anybody. | Examination is mandatory. Request for examination is applied only by the applicant. |
| Grant certificate is provided only if the patent application is examined and meets the requirement of patentability. The patent can be enforced only after certification. | Grant certificate is provided is patent is granted. |
| Patent is published after grant and certification in the Australian Official Journal of Patents | Patent is published after 18 months from the date of priority and again after certification. |
Conclusion: If an applicant wants to file for an innovation patent, the application must be filed on or before 25th August 2021.
Author: Dharini Dinesh
Contact us at info@origiin.com to avail services in Patent, Trademark, Contracts, Patent Licensing, M&A
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel HERE
Email: info@origiin.com
Whatsapp: +91 7483806607
