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Guided answer
Patent of addition or a separate application?
For an improvement to your own invention. A patent of addition avoids an inventive-step attack over your main invention, but it lives and dies with the main patent.
Find these facts first.
Moderate complexity - several routes or missing facts
Please review this with an advocate, patent attorney or registered patent agent before you act. Do not rely on this answer alone.
- Number, status and owner of the main patent or application.
- Who will be the applicant for the improvement, and the written assignments.
- A clear description of what the improvement changes compared with the main invention.
Educational guidance only - not legal advice. Do not rely on it. It cannot see your documents, your dates or the prior art, and those usually decide the answer. Laws, rules, forms, fees and deadlines change. Please review your situation with a qualified advocate, patent attorney or registered patent agent before you act or decide not to act.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.