What is Patent Provisional Specification

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What is Patent Provisional Specification

Preface: This post was originally published in 2022 and has been updated on August 12, 2025, to provide you with the most current and accurate information.

If you have an idea of an invention and have already started working on it, and the results of your development till now have been positive, you would feel the need to protect your development. 

Now, the question is, “Can you provide protection to the current development stage of your invention?” The answer to this question is, yes, you can protect the current stage of your invention's development even if it hasn’t been fully finalized yet. 

For doing this, you must file a patent provisional specification with the Indian Patent Office. Now, what exactly is a provisional specification in patent? In this blog post, we’ll discuss exactly this!

Provisional Specification: Explained

If you want temporary protection for your invention that is still in the development phase, you must apply for it via a provisional patent specification. You can think of the provisional specification as a specialized column where you fill in the specifications of your invention up to a particular stage. A provisional patent specification contains title, invention description, drawings or sketches (if necessary) and claims (optional).

This provisional patent specification is filed alongside the standard patent application. The purpose of filing this sort of application is not only to protect your development stage, but also to set your date of priority. 

Let’s take a provisional patent specification example. Suppose you’re inventing a medicine and it is in development stage, then the provisional patent specification for your medicine must include the title, the invention description like the field, background and objection of invention and any relevant sketches/drawings.

Advantages of Provisional Specification

When it comes to patent registration, there are many cases where you will be filing a provisional patent specification and you would be making the right choice. The reasons for that are given below:

• The requirements for provisional/temporary specification are less formal: As there are fewer formalities with the filing process, it is an immense relief for you. Furthermore, as the formalities are less, the cost of filing the provisional patent is less as well. Another indirect benefit of the lack of formality is that you would be more focused towards the development of the invention than being worried about the legal stuff.

• You can secure foreign priority with this: When you are opting to protect your development stages of your invention, you end up making sure that you are given priority when it comes time to get the full patent. This priority basis is applicable throughout the world as well.

• Ability to promote the product: When you have applied for provisional specifics, you can circumvent the novelty aspect of the patent and can promote the product at this stage. To that end, if you are a YouTuber who also wants to invent something, you need this form of certification.

• This is a good short term solution: A provisional/temporary specification is meant for a period of 12 months. This is a cost effective short term solution that attracts a lot of inventors.

• It is a good motivator for you to complete your invention: The 12 month period that you get after you apply for provisional specification is going to assist you a lot when it comes to getting to work. With 1 year to your side, you can make sure that your invention comes out on time as after this year, it is time for complete specification.

Difference Between Provisional Specification and Complete Specification

The provisional or a temporary specification is a preliminary document that an inventor files with the patent office for securing an early priority date for their invention. However, when we talk about the complete specification, this document provides the invention’s complete and comprehensive disclosure. This specification is required for the invention to be granted a patent. 

Basically, we can say that the provisional acts as a placeholder for the invention and the complete specification acts as the substantive document that is required to examine whether a patent can be granted to the invention. 

Conclusion

A provisional or temporary specification is required for protecting an invention that is still in the development phase. By filing this specification with the Indian Patent Office, the inventor can establish an early priority date for their invention-in-the-making. For guidance in filing this specification, you can connect with our IPR legal consultants at Registrationwala! 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. Which form is filed for provisional patent specification?

A. Form 2 is foiled for provisional patent’s specification. This same form is also used for complete patent specification. 

Q2. Which Act governs patent registration in India?

A. The Patent Act 1970 governs the patent registration in India.

Q3. What is the early priority date in the patent law?

A. It refers to the earliest filing date within a family of patent applications.

Q4. Can an invention be protected while it’s still in the development phase? 

A. Yes, an invention can be protected while it’s still in the development stage via the provisional patent’s application filing.

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