Difference between the Provisional and Non-Provisional Patent

The basic motive of both the provisional and non- provisional patent application is to secure the exclusive rights over the inventions.  However, they both are the different concepts.  Provisional patent application is the kind of preliminary application that is basically filed to secure the priority right over the invention.  While, the final application is filed to legally precede the procedure for Patent registration in India.  Very often people find it hard to differentiate between the concept of the provisional and non-provisional application.  As a result they lose upon the benefits of the provisional application filing or fails to file the final patent application within due time due to which the rights of preliminary application are also lost.  To clear this confusion today we will discuss about the difference between the provisional and non-provisional patent application.

Provisional Patent Application- The patent registration is granted to any inventor on first to file basis rather than the first to invent basis. Thus, it is of utmost importance to file the patent application first and claim the priority date. The provisional application is a kind of preliminary application that is filed before filing a usual patent. In the provisional application filed the invention is explained in the broad manner but not completely at all.  To simply state we can say that the provisional application is basically a document that must be filed with the Office of the Controller of Patents containing all the details pertaining to a prospective patent.  One more important thing to be noted here is that filing the provisional applications is not at all mandatory i.e. the applicant can file the preliminary application if he wants.

Non-Provisional Patent Application- Unlike the provisional application the non-provisional application is the kind of final application.  In order to obtain the patent registration in India it is mandatory to file the final or non-provisional application.  The non-provisional application shall be filed with the complete specifications of the invention and proposal including the drawing and depictions of the invention.  To simply state we can say that filing the non-provisional application is the first legal step in the journey of obtaining patent registration in India.

Difference between the provisional and non-provisional application

>Provisional application is the document that is required to be filed at the initial time containing the broad specification of the invention. This application does not contain the complete details of the inventions.  Further, the main purpose of this application is to secure the priority claim on the invention.

On the other hand the non-provisional application is the final application that is required to be filed within 1 year of filing the provisional application. This kind of patent application consists of the complete specification of the invention and is aimed at getting the patent registration in India.   As we have already discussed for obtaining the patent registration filing the non-provisional application is mandatory while provisional application is optional. Lastly the documents required for Patent Filing or Registration in India by non-provisional application is much less.

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.