IP Intelligence
Patent Myths
Widely repeated beliefs about patents, and what the position actually is.
Showing 9 of 51.
“More claims mean a stronger patent.”
Strength comes from the breadth and defensibility of the independent claims. A long claim set of trivial variations adds cost, not protection.
“A clean prior art search means the patent will be granted.”
No search is exhaustive. Applications are unpublished for eighteen months, non-patent literature is poorly indexed, and examiners search differently from anyone else.
“An examination report means my application was rejected.”
It is an opening position. Nearly every Indian application receives objections, and receiving them says almost nothing about the quality of the invention.
“Patent registration and patent filing are the same thing.”
There is no registration process for patents in India. An application is filed, published, examined, argued and then either granted or refused. Registration is how trade marks and designs work, not patents.
“Changing one word in the claim makes it new.”
Novelty is about technical content, not vocabulary. Renaming a component does nothing; a different technical feature might.
“Marking a product patent pending stops competitors copying it.”
It is a signal, not a right. You cannot bring infringement proceedings until the patent is granted.
“A design registration and a patent are the same thing.”
A design protects the appearance of an article - shape, configuration, pattern, ornament. A patent protects how something works. They are different statutes with different tests and different terms.
“Filing it myself is basically the same and much cheaper.”
Filing is easy. Drafting is not. The document you file determines what you can claim, what you can amend to, and what the patent is eventually worth.
“My patent is strong because the invention was hard to make.”
Strength comes from claim scope and defensibility, not from how much work the invention took.
Keep going.
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.