Patent Services
What is Patent, It's registration process and Requirements in Pakistan
A patent grants exclusive rights to an invention to make, sell and use the invention for a period of 20 years. Patent grants prohibit others from using, making, or selling the invention. Patent protection is not effective until the patent is actually granted.
The patent owner can decide who may use the patented invention during the protection period. A patent owner can grant permission or license to others to use the invention under mutually agreed terms. Another option is to sell the rights to the invention to another person, who will become the new patent owner. The protection ceases once a patent expires. Inventions become available for commercial exploitation by others.
In the public interest, it is desirable that industrial techniques be improved. Monopoly rights can be granted instead of disclosure of an invention, i.e. advancements in technology. To encourage improvement and also to encourage the disclosure of inventions in preference to keeping them secret. Any inventor who develops any improvement to a manufactured article, or to machinery or methods of making it may request a monopoly on its use for a restricted period of time. It becomes public after that time.
The Patent Office
In 1948, the Patents Office was created under Section 55 of the Patents & Designs Act 1911. It is an attached department of Ministry of Industries & Production of Pakistan. This Act of 1911 was modified in accordance with TRIPS agreement. It was promulgated as The Patents Ordinance 2000 and the Registered Designs Ordinance 2000. The law of registration of layout designs of integrated circuits has been amended to reflect the above. It is also known as “Registered Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits Ordinance 2000”. The Patents Office is now part of the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan since April 2005.
Types of Patent Application
These are the ways patent applications can be filed:
– A regular patent application with “provisional” or “complete specification”, which is dated at the official date of the patent application.
Convention patent application claiming “right to priority”, which is dated at the official date of the original application for patent in the same country as the WTO (World Trade Organization).
– Application for patent of addition, improvement or modification to an invention that has been granted or applied for.
Average time to process Services of Patent Office
SN | Type/nature of office action | Average time for disposal (working days) |
1 | On filing a request, Acknowledgement Receipt is issued. These steps include:
| One week |
2 | On application, 1 and Examination Report are issued. These steps are included:
| Eighteen months |
3 | Reconsider Action on Reply Received from the Applicant | Three months |
4 | Acceptance and publication upon compliance with all legal / codal requirements. These steps include:
| Two months |
5 | Publication/Notification of “Sealing Is Due” to Patent Application – where there is no opposition. These are the steps it includes:
| Six months |
6 | After receipt of the fee and form P-10, registration certificate of patent is issued | Ten days |
7 | Time to resolve Patent Opposition proceedings | Two years |
8 | Patent Search Report upon request on form P27 | One month |
9 | Other requests that are not required hearing such as:
| One month |
10 | Process time to decide Patent Revocation proceedings | One year |
Patentable inventions in Pakistan
To be patentable, an invention must have these characteristics:
– The invention must be a process or product
– The invention must be original or new
It requires an ingenious step
It can be used in industrial applications
Patent applications are subject to the Patents Ordinance 2000 and Rules thereunder for technical and legal merits. These characteristics will be briefly described below.
Innovation, Product or Process?
Invention is any useful and new product or process in any area of technology. It also includes any improvement and new use of existing products. A “process” is any art, process, method, or way of manufacturing a new product. A “product” is any substance, article or apparatus.
Novelty
If an invention is not part of the state-of-the art, it shall be considered novel or new. The entire state of the art includes all information disclosed to the public in any form, including oral disclosure or publication in tangible form, before the filing, or where applicable, the priority date of the invention application.
Public use or knowledge of an invention anywhere on the planet before the filing date would be detrimental to the invention’s novelty. Patent applicants should ensure that their inventions are not used in public anywhere in the world prior to filing their patent applications. Before applying for Patents, it is important to avoid publication of the invention.
However, a disclosure of a patentable invention with respect to goods does not constitute “state of the art” if the article is displayed at an official or recognized international exhibition within 12 months of the date of filing a request for patent grant.
Ingenious Step
If an invention is not obvious to someone skilled in the art prior to the date of the patent application, it will be considered to involve an inventive step. Patentability requires that the invention be new and not existing. Patents for the new use of a well-known contrivance are not patentable. The invention is not made if the new use is without ingenuity and is similar in purpose and manner to the original use. The prior art should undergo a substantial change, improvement, or addition.
Industrial Application
If an invention is manufactured or used in an industrial setting, it will be considered industrially applicable.
Exceptions & Non-Patentable Innovations
These are not inventions within the meaning of Patent ordinance 2000
– A discovery, scientific theory or mathematical method.
– A literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, or any other creation with purely aesthetic characteristics.
A scheme, rule, or method to perform a mental act, play a game, or do business.
– The presentation of information using computer software.
– That exist in nature, or that are isolated from.
For:
– Invention against the “order public” or morality. This includes to protect human, animal, or plant life, or to prevent serious prejudice to the environment.
– Plants and animals other that micro-organisms and essentially biological processes to produce plants and animals.
– Diagnostic, therapeutic, and surgical methods to treat humans or animals
– A new or subsequent use of an existing product or process;
Mere physical change in the appearance of a chemical substance
- It provides exclusive rights for an invention to sell, use and make of 20 years upon its actual grant.
- Pakistan is not member to PCT therefore local filing to be make in Pakistan.
- Patent owners have right to give permission or license to third parties for their granted patents.
- Priority of home country can be claimed within one year of filing date.
FILING REQUIREMENTS
- Applicant name and address
- Inventors details with nationality
- Form of authorization (P-28) simply signed
- Form (P-2A/1A) signed by applicant and inventors
- Complete specification in MS word with claims, abstract and drawings
- Priority date and number (if any)
STEPS OF REGISTRATION
- Filing
- Examination
- Publication (online Journal)
- Opposition (if any)
- Registration
- Annuity due from 5th year (to be paid for all outstanding years immediately after grant)
- TIME FRAME 18 to 36 months (approx.)