Patents are a techno-legal document which provides the details of new, non-obvious, and industrially applicable inventions made. A patent application is a request made at a patent office for the grant of patent for an invention made described in the patent specification. It is the combination of document and its processing in the legal and administrative framework of the patent office.

To obtain the grant or a license of a patent, a person, either legal or natural, shall file an application at a patent office with the jurisdiction to get a patent. After the patent specification compliance with the laws of the office concerned to it, a patent may be granted for the invention described and claimed by the specification.

Documents required for Patent registration

1. Application form for the grant of patent in India (Form 1
2. Provisional or complete specification of Patent in duplicate and in case the provisional specification is filed; it must be followed by the complete specification within 12 months. (Form 2)
   Drawing in duplicate only if necessary.
3. Abstract and relevant information of the invention made by the party in duplicate.
4. Information and undertaking highlighting the number, filing date & current status of each foreign patent application in duplicate (Form 3).
5. The Priority document is to be attached when directed by the Controller, if in case the priority date is claimed in convention application,
6. Declaration of inventor-ship, if the provisional specification is followed by a complete specification or in case of convention/PCT national phase application (Form 5).
7. Power of attorney, if filled a patent through Patent Agent
8. Fees of the Patent registration to be paid in cash/cheque/demand draft

The details of forms used in Patent Registration are given below:

1. Form 1: Application for Grant of Patent
   It Contains,
   The name and address of the inventor(s),
   The name and address of the applicant(s),
   Information analogous to prior patent applications relating to the current invention, which inventor or any authorized entity has filed, and
   Few required declarations and other information.
    
2. Form 2: Provisional / Complete Specification
   Form 2 is used to furnish inventor's patent specification. It may be provisional or a complete patent specification depending on the type of patent application inventor is filing.
    
3. Form 3: Statement and Undertaking under Section 8
   Form 3 is used to equip information relating to patent applications filed in any other country for the current invention. It will undertake that the inventor will be keeping the patent office informed in writing the details regarding corresponding applications for patents filed outside India.
    
4. Form 5: Declaration as to Inventor-ship
   This application is entitled to declare the inventors of the current patent application.
    
5. Form 26: Power of Attorney (if filed through Patent Agent)
   Form 26 is entitled to assign the power of attorney to the patent's agent to deal with the patent application, correspondence and communication on inventor's behalf.

Procedure for registration of Patent

Step 1: Writing down the invention (idea or concept) with as much details as possible
Collect all the information about the invention such as:
Area of invention
Description of the invention and what it does
How does the invention works
Advantages of the invention done
If inventor has worked on the invention during research and development phase, ideally, it should have lab record duly signed with date by the inventor and respective authority.

Step 2: Including drawings, diagrams or sketches explaining working of the invention done
The drawings and diagrams must be designed to explain the working of the invention in better way with visual illustrations. It plays an important role in patent application.

Step 3: checking whether the invention is patentable subject matter
As per the Indian Patent Act, every invention made is not subject to patent, there are a few exceptions to it. The patentability of the inventions should be checked prior to filing.

Step 4: Patentability search
The next step would be finding out whether the invention meets all patentability criteria as per Indian patent act.

They are:
Novelty
Non-obviousness
Industrial application
Enabling

Step 5: Drafting a patent application
In case inventor is at a very early stage in the research and development for the invention, then one can go for provisional application. It gives following benefits:
Secures the filing date
A time period of 12 months to file complete specification
At low cost
After filing provisional application, securing the filing date is very crucial in patent world. Inventor gets 12 months of time to come up with the complete specification, up on 12 months patent will be abandoned. Once the required documents are collected and research work is completed, inventor can file complete specification with patent application.

Filing the provisional specification is an optional step and not a mandatory one. If the inventor is at the stage where complete information about invention is ready then they can directly go for complete specification.

Step 6: Publication of the application
After filing the complete specification along with patent application, the application shall publish after 18 months of first filing.
In case of an early publication, request can be made along with prescribed fees. Generally the patent application is published within a month of early publication request.

Step 7: Request for examination
The patent application is examined only after receiving request for examination that is request for evidence (RFE). After receiving examination request, the controller gives the application to a patent examiner who examinees the patent application with different patentability criteria like:
Patentable subject matter
Novelty
Non-obviousness
Inventive step
Industrial application
Enabling
The examiner then creates a first examination report of the patent application upon reviewing it for above terms. This is called patent prosecution. The first examination report submitted to controller by the examiner usually contains prior arts (existing documents before the date of filing) which are identical to the claimed invention and same is reported to patent applicant.

Step 8: Respond to objections
If in case any objection is raised in examination report, the inventor gets a fair chance to respond to the objections and prove the invention is patentable and satisfies the patentability criteria.

Step 9: Clearing of Objections
After the inventor clearing the objections made in the examination report, the patent is entitled to get all the objections cleared by the board.

Step 10: Grant of patent
The application shall be placed in order for grant, once it is found to be meeting all patentability requirements. The grant of patent is notified and announced in the patent journal which is published from time to time.

Conclusion
Patent registration is filed at the patent office with complete and provisional specification. The documents required to file the registration has been discussed in the above article. The article also throws light on the procedure for filing a patent in India.