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Guided answer
Should I post-date my patent application?
Post-dating moves your application to a later date. It can buy time, but it never lets you add new matter, and it can cost you priority.
No, it is still pendingNo, it is an ordinary Indian applicationI want to compare the options first← back a step
How the routes differ
Moderate complexity - several routes or missing facts
- Amendment (sections 57 and 59): keeps the date; can only disclaim, correct or explain; cannot add matter.
- Post-dating (section 17(1)): moves the date later by up to six months; does not allow new matter; intervening publications become prior art.
- Cancelling the provisional (section 9(4)): dates the application from the complete specification.
- Divisional (section 16): before grant, for an invention already disclosed; keeps the parent's date; no new matter.
- Fresh application: new date, new matter allowed; your own earlier publications count against it.
- Patent of addition (section 54): for an improvement in or modification of your own main invention; tied to the main patent's term.
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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.