Section 11 of The Patents Act, 1970, PA : Section 11: Priority Dates Of Claims Of A Complete Specification

Explanation using Example

Let's consider a hypothetical scenario where an inventor, Mr. John, creates a new type of solar panel. On January 1, 2021, he files a provisional specification outlining the basic concept of his invention. Later, he makes improvements to his invention and files a complete specification on January 1, 2022, which includes claims based on both the original concept and the improvements.

According to Section 11 of The Patents Act, 1970:

• The priority date for the claims based on the original concept, which was disclosed in the provisional specification, would be January 1, 2021 (the date of filing the provisional specification).
• The priority date for the claims based on the improvements, which were not disclosed in the provisional specification but in the complete specification, would be January 1, 2022 (the date of filing the complete specification).

If another inventor files a patent for a similar solar panel after these dates, Mr. John's patent will not be invalidated due to this later patent, as per subsection 8 of Section 11. His invention's protection starts from its priority date, not the date of the complete specification filing or patent grant.