Writing Patent Specification: The art which needs to be mastered by time

 - Patent Draft is a techno-legal document prepared by experienced professionals in the field of patents. The draft needs to disclose the invention in sufficient detail so that a person of average skill in the art can make the invention without any undue experimentation. For example an electronics based invention needs to be drafted in such a manner that an average person skilled in the domain of electronics can make the invention without too much experimentation. 

- A Patent draft is divided into specific parts/sections like Technical Field of the invention, Background of the Invention, Summary of the invention, Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Specification, Claims, Abstract, and Detailed Drawings. Specific information has to be furnished in all the above said sections.

- Technical Field of the invention: In this section information related to specific field of the invention is to be furnished. In other words the information related to the application of the invention is technical field to which it belongs is needed to be provided briefly.

- Background of the Invention: In this section Information related to prior work or prior art is provided. Here information about patent and non-patent publications which are close to the domain of the invention and description related to, how the prior art has addressed the specific problems in the industry in the form of their solutions is furnished. It also furnishes how the present invention is likely to address the same problem in the form of specific solution. The background section discusses about the problem solution approach of the specific class of the inventions and particularly highlights the new solution which is found by application of mind and R&D efforts made by inventors. The need for such solution is also discussed/provided here.

- Summary of the Invention: Summary of the invention provides information related to solution provided by the invention which is previously discussed in background section. It should be directed towards the functioning of the system and is distinct from the Abstract. It is different form the detailed description as summary provides information related to the methodology adopted in the invention and does not provide specific bits of detail as furnished in detailed description section of the patent draft.

- Brief Description of Drawings: This section provides details of the various drawings, system diagrams and flowcharts furnished by the inventors to explain the invention through various illustrations. Each Figure is briefly explained in two to three lines. Here Figures related to Prior art can also be provided.

- Detailed Description: In detailed description part of the specification information related to solution provide by way of the present invention is provided. It is to be kept in the mind that as far as possible information should belong to single invention only. The scope of the invention should be directed towards a single inventive concept. Adequate support should be built in the detailed description for the claims which is the operative part of the specification. Detailed description also covers explanation on each Figure/illustrations provided by the inventors. Too much information has to be avoided and information relevant to the invention needs to be furnished.

- Claims: Claims are the operative part of the specification. The claims should be adequately supported by the specification in other words there should be supporting description in the specification which is enabling in nature. Claims should be directed to single inventive concept and should be precise and clear. The claims should not convey ambiguity. The first and foremost requirement for a claim is that it should be novel and have inventive step. The claims should not come under the ambit of non-patentability sections of Indian Patent Act.

- Claim writing is an art i.e if the subject matter of the claims are directed towards unique interaction or solving a problem in a unique manner than such claims are said to be novel, similarly if the claims are composed of additional steps which are not present in the prior art than such claims are said to exhibit inventive step also. In other words if the claims are conveying unique meaning and there is a presence of additional steps which are absent in prior art than the subject matter of said claims are said to have novelty and inventive step both, provided the said claims are having industrial application also.

- Before finalizing the draft, a copy is provided to clients for further changes. The specification and drawings are made according to the various provisions laid down in Indian Patent office. Patent specification writing is detailed oriented work and requires clear and elaborated disclosure from inventors.

Benefits of Patent filing for Academic Institutions

Few Benefits of patent filing for Academic Institutions are as follows:

1. The name of inventors gets mentioned in patent publication which is a recognition given by government to inventors for their contribution in the development of technology where they are actively working.

2. If a patent is filed from a particular department of a engineering colleges than not only the name of inventors but also the name of the college gets recognition for their contribution in technology development.  The more the number of patents filed from a academic institutions the more it gets recognized for its elevated standard in their respective fields.

3. The Academic institution can monetize the pool of patents through licensing out the technology developed in their labs by their professors, guides and engineering students who have contributed in the making of patented technology.

4. At a bigger view the more is the intellectual capital of a academic  institution particularly patents, the more it gets recognition and the higher is the possibility of being ranked at international level.

5. It looks good in a resume of an engineering student going out for seeking job in the area of his interest.

6. Constant Patent search and analysis not only reveals the upcoming technology but also provide useful insights in where the patent data or IP is heading.

7. In one way, patent monitoring reveals the latest problems in the industry which needs to be solved. If the solutions are created and implemented,  the same can be a subject matter for patenting in the name of the academic institution.

8. Today 80 percent of technical knowledge exist in patent documents worldwide. This information is very huge and effective retrieval of information for R&D work plays key role in developing strategies to solve the problems existing in the industry at the time where alternative solutions are needed.

9. Patentability assessments prevents duplication of R&D and helps in tech transfer from nearest geographies where the development has already completed.

Disclaimer: The content of the blog are independent views of the author. The  information provided here is for the purpose of spreading IPR awareness among the academic institutions of the country. The contents of this blog are written out of academic interest only and should be checked thoroughly by relevant experts for its utilization under any institution.