2. What information is needed to file a patent : creating “invention disclosure” of your invention

2. What information is needed to file a patent: creating “invention disclosure”

Table of Contents

 The Purpose of this article is to help you understand:

  • what is exact information needed to proceed with patent ?
  • how to know if you have enough details about your invention to proceed?
  • do I need to wait till I develop prototype or working model of my invention ?
  • what is expected in invention disclosure ?
  • what are different ways and forms for giving information about my invention ?

The moment you decide to go ahead with filing a patent for your invention, and you found out that your invention is a patentable subject matter and it does not fall under sections 3 and 4 of the Indian patent act which explains inventions not patentable in India,

the most common problem with the inventors is the confusion that

  • at what point I should go ahead for filing patent for my invention?
  • in other words, Do I know enough details to proceed for patent ? or
  • do I need to wait and perfect my working model (or prototype) of my invention.

In this article, we will understand the right way and right time for going ahead with patent filing for your invention.

It may be really challenging and intimidating sometimes to look at a blank page and try to figure out what and where you should start to create complete “invention disclosure” for your invention.

Before we begin the steps and process for creating a comprehensive invention disclosure, let us understand the purpose of the invention disclosure.

The purpose of the invention disclosure:

An important objective of the invention disclosure that you would be writing is to help the patent attorney or patent agent to understand your invention completely.  In other words, the patent attorney should be able to stand in your shoes and see all the details of your invention to be able to draft/write the patent application such that it will provide the broadest possible protection for your invention.

Note: since a patent attorney / Intellectual Property firm signs a non-disclosure agreement with the inventor before proceeding with the invention disclosure step, your confidentiality would be maintained by the patent attorney at all levels hence you need not worry about the privacy of your invention or hide important information about your invention.

Video: What information is needed to file a patent – creating “invention disclosure”

It is important to remember that we need Implementable details of the invention, it is also known as “enabling disclosure”

By definition, enabling disclosure of the invention is such that when you give the disclosure information/document to a person skilled in the art; that person should be able to implement the invention without needing to perform additional research about the invention.

In simple language, we need just enough information about your invention so that someone from your field should be able to implement the invention without any difficulty or without needing to do any research.

Video on : When you are ready to file patent for your invention how much information is enough – Prasad Karhad

How does an enabling invention disclosure or implementable details look like?

The invention disclosure is received in many forms depending upon the type of invention and information available with the inventor

We have received invention disclosure in the following forms:

  • As a project report or a technical document covering all aspects of the invention
  • As a presentation or PPT with technical details included
  • As hand-drawn sketches or drawings of the device and its explanation
  • As a video or screen recording
  • As a video explain the invention
  • Or as a meeting notes of inventor and patent attorney meeting
  • Any other relevant form in which the information about the invention is communicated to patent attorney/agent

It is clear from the list above that the form of information to communicate the “invention disclosure” can be varied as per the preference of the inventor.

However, there are few things that need to be considered while creating a comprehensive invention disclosure:

  • What is my innovative idea/invention about?
  • How does it work?
  • What problem my invention is solving?
  • What are the advantages of my innovative idea over others?
  • What are the elements or components of my invention?
  • Can I draw a block diagram or device or flowchart or sketch that explains my invention in a better way?
  • What part of my invention is novel?
  • What part of my invention is having “inventive step” that is having either technical advance or economic significance or both
  • What are replaceable components, elements of my invention?
  • Can my invention be practiced in different ways? (possible embodiments)

You may not be knowing answers to all of these questions but try to write answers to as many of the questions as you can to be able to come up with complete invention disclosure.

Sometimes, when you miss important information about the invention (inventive step) the patent attorney/patent agent working on your invention would get back to you and ask for additional details about the invention.

This is the most important step from your side (from the inventor’s side) in the entire patent process hence the information needs to be carefully submitted.

Another most commonly asked question is,

Do we need to create a prototype or a working model of the invention before we file a patent application?

In most cases, almost 99% of the time the working model or a prototype of the invention is not required !!!

If the invention is well described in the patent application with enabling disclosure and the inventive step is clearly communicated over prior arts then in most cases the working model would not be required to be able to get a patent granted. (we are assuming the patent application is completely disclosing implementable details and best mode known to the inventor/applicant at the time of filing the patent application)

In a very rare case, if the examiner or controller from the patent office would need to see the working model of the invention before granting the patent then such request would be communicated to you ( applicant) and specific time would be allotted to come up with a prototype of a working model of the invention, but such scenarios are very rare.

Hence, if you have sufficient implementable details ready with you then you don’t need to build a prototype and you may proceed with the patent filing for your invention.

Generally, patent attorneys or Intellectual property firms have a questionnaire document to help you (inventors) in getting the right information about their invention it is called the “Invention Disclosure Form”.

You may also read our important article number 4 on Documents required to file a patent in India

Writing a complete invention disclosure is not about its specific format but is more about the implementable details about your invention which clearly communicates the inventive step to the patent attorney so that he/she can write a patent application to best protect your invention.

So, even a two-page document with sufficient details about your invention and hand-drawn sketches/drawing can still be a complete invention disclosure provided it has implementable details about your invention.

Lets take an example: 

let us assume your invention is about a device which can fit in to a vehicle engine and can improve the average of the vehicle. now, at what point you can move ahead for patent filing ?

let’s assume that you conducted a meeting with the ream of manufacturers who will help in creating this device (invention). In such meeting, you may draw some rough sketches on page and try to explain the manufacturers how this device looks how it functions,  how it can be constructed and other important details.

if we collect the output of such meeting, that is what we call as implementable details like rough sketches, drawings, how it functions, what are its advantages and how it can be manufactured etc… this information is enough to proceed with patent filing and even getting granted patent.

You do not the prototype or working model to proceed with patent filing.

Conclusion :

  • It is absolutely normal for inventors to have a feeling that I don’t know much about my invention yet or i need to further research or I am not ready with the working model (prototype) yet
  • But it would be relieving to know that all we need is sufficient details about how to implement the invention (implementable details) that enough to proceed for patent filing for your invention

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Prasad Karhad
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