A Primer to Patent Application Drafting with special emphasis on standard practise(s) before the Indian Patent Office

An enforceable Patent being the key to effective Commercialization/Out-Licensing of any technology needs to be drafted well. No matter how good a technology is, if the description of the technical subject matter of a Patent is not enabling or fails to disclose all necessary embodiments, and in case the claims are narrowly drafted and do not gain support from the specification, the worth of the technology is insignificant.

Patent application (whether provisional or complete specification), being a complex techno-legal document and difficult to prepare, mostly requires inventors to seek professional assistance from a patent practitioner. Nevertheless, many inventors facing the economic crunch decide to proceed on their own. This is a perfectly fine choice, but it needs to be done with eyes wide open. It also requires the do-it-yourself inventor to become as knowledgeable and familiar with the process of describing an invention and drafting a patent application as possible before he/she decides to embark on the path of preparing his/her own patent application. Patent claims, particularly, are enormously difficult to draft due to the peculiar format/rules prescribed by the Patent Offices of different jurisdictions. The claim set section defines the boundaries (i.e., scope) of patent protection afforded under the patent. The claim set must particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor regards as his/her invention. There is much to be learned with respect to drafting claims, which is why inventors are at a substantial disadvantage if they are to represent themselves. However, avoiding pitfalls, an inventor can still strive to conclude a complete and descriptive patent application successfully. Further, as a do-it-yourself inventor develops his style of patent drafting, it is useful for him/her to occasionally look back to the rules of practice to ensure that they are still being followed.

Considering this need of several inventors, this document (ANATOMY-OF-PATENT-SPECIFICATION) is prepared, which may serve the purpose of a primer delineating some standard practices which can be followed to pen down the invention in the best possible manner. The information provided as part of the document explains and elaborates on the following important elements/parts/aspects of the patent application to be filed before the Indian Patent Office:

1) Title of Invention
2) Field of Invention
3) State of the art in the field (Background & Prior Art)
4) Object of invention
5) Brief description of drawings
6) Preamble to description
7) Detailed description of Invention
8) Sequence Listing (if any)
9) Claims; and
10) Abstract