Before you file

Run this in the week before a filing goes in.

HighBefore filingInventorFounder

Filing is cheap to do and expensive to do badly. These are the things that cannot be fixed afterwards.

Tick anything that is true. Each tick opens a short note on why it matters. Nothing you tick is sent anywhere - it stays in this browser tab.

Has anyone read claim 1 out loud, feature by feature?Claim 1 decides what the patent is worth, and it is the part inventors most often never read.
If yes: For each feature ask whether removing it would stop the invention working. Anything that survives that test may be making the claim smaller for nothing.
Does the specification describe alternatives you did not build?Amendments can only recite what was disclosed. Alternatives are your future fallback positions.
If yes: For each component and step, write two lines on what else could do that job.
Are the boundary conditions written down?Where the invention stops working, and why, is usually the amendment you will need in three years.
If yes: Add the ranges, the sub-ranges and at least one comparative example outside the working range.
Is the applicant name the entity that will own and enforce it?Fee category, chain of title and diligence all follow from the applicant name.
If yes: Fix it before filing. Changing it later means recorded assignments and fees.
Do you have a written assignment from every named inventor?Rights flow from inventors, and Indian assignments must be in writing.
If yes: Get them signed at filing. This is the single most common diligence failure.
Have you checked the claims against section 3?Section 3 excludes whole categories regardless of novelty - and it is a category problem, not an evidence problem.
If yes: Read section 3 clause by clause against your claims. Fifteen minutes here saves a year later.
Does your field require comparative data?Section 3(d), section 3(e) and inventive step objections in chemistry and life sciences are answered with tables, not arguments.
If yes: Generate the comparison before filing, and assert the effect in the specification as filed.
Is there a public event coming up?The filing has to be before it, not near it.
If yes: Work backwards from the event date and file first, even if the draft is not perfect.

A filing you had to rush is still better than a disclosure you cannot undo. But most of the items above cost hours, not weeks.

Sources & further reading

The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text

CriticalCriticality

Claim 1 describes your product instead of your invention

Claim 1 is the patent. If it recites the specific product you happened to build - your materials, your dimensions, your architecture - then a competitor only has to …

During draftingIntermediate

HighCriticality

You only described the one you built

A specification that describes exactly one implementation gives you exactly one implementation to fall back on. Alternatives you considered and rejected are some of …

During draftingIntermediate

HighCriticality

The data you did not generate

In chemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and food technology, several of the objections you will face can only be answered with comparative data. If nobody gener…

Before filingAdvanced

Thinking about filing?

Before anything is drafted, the useful work is establishing what is already public, what is genuinely yours, and what you can honestly claim.

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Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.

Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.