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Patent Criticalities

The things that quietly decide whether an invention can be protected - explained before they cost you anything.

Showing 7 of 56.

Critical

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
Critical

Nobody asked the Patent Office to look at it

An Indian patent application is not examined unless someone files a request and pays for it. If the request is not filed in time, the application is treated as withd…

During examinationIntermediate
Critical

The reply that quietly gave the patent away

A first examination report is an opening position, not a rejection. The two ways applicants lose value here are missing the date, and buying a grant by conceding mor…

During examinationIntermediate
High

The invention is new - and still not patentable

Indian law has a filter that operates completely independently of novelty and inventive step. Section 3 lists things that are not inventions at all - and something c…

During examinationIntermediate
High

Adding words does not make a claim stronger

It feels safer to describe the invention thoroughly in the claim. It is the opposite of safer. Every additional word is an additional condition that a competitor has…

During draftingIntermediate
High

The provisional that covered nothing

A provisional specification buys a date for the subject matter it actually describes. A two-page document that states the idea without explaining how it works buys a…

Before filingIntermediate
High

Turning up to the hearing with nothing new

A hearing is the last chance to change the outcome before a decision is written. The Controller has already read the file, so repeating the written arguments achieve…

During examinationIntermediate

LowWorth knowing
MediumCould create complications
HighCan materially affect protection
CriticalAct before proceeding

This is the Ragulika IP Educational Criticality - our own editorial prioritisation device, to help you decide what to read first. It is not a legal score, it is not calculated from your facts, and it says nothing about the strength of any particular application.

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Every explanation here links to the ones next to it. Follow the thread rather than the menu.

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.