Instruction of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic defining uniform layout of the patent application
a. General provision
b. Normative section
In accordance with the Act No. 435/2001 Coll. on patents, supplementary protection certificates and on amendment of some acts in wording of the Act No. 402/2002 Coll. and the Decree of the Industrial Property Office No. 223/2002 Coll. implementing the Act No. 435/2001 Coll. The Patent Act, the President of the IPO SR lays down following standard form of the patent application.
The patent application shall contain:
- request for grant a patent (2 copies)
- description of an invention (3 copies)
- at least one claim (3 copies)
- abstract (3 copies)
- drawings, if any (3 copies)
Request for Grant a Patent
Request for granting a patent shall be filed in two copies on a form drawn up by the Office. The request shall be fully completed.
Description of an Invention
Description of an invention shall contain:
- name of the invention in such way as it is written in the request for grant a patent. The name should be brief and accurate, it should not contain more than 8-10 words;
- specify the technical field, to which the invention relates;
- description of prior art, if possible together with citation of the documents reflecting such art. Names or names of the real manufacturers, business names and pejorative information regarding well known products or processes are not indicated in the description.
- explanation of the substance of the invention defined in patent claims. This part of the description shall contain the description of the terms used for explanation of the nature of the invention in such terms that technical problem and its solution can be understood. At the same time there shall be stated advantageous (or disadvantageous) effects of the invention with reference to the prior art. For description shall be used the same expressions as for the patent claims;
- brief description of the figures in the drawings (if any);
- description of at least one example of carrying out the invention. Selected number and kind of examples shall enable to explain and demonstrate that the invention is capable of realisation and they shall cover the whole field of protection following from the patent claims, in genetic applications is sequence listing involved in the description. If the application contains the drawings, in this part of the description shall be mentioned the reference signs used in drawings. As reference signs Arabic numerals are used. In the example of carrying out the inventions the reference signs are underlined; if there are more reference signs, it is recommended to make an extra list;
- way of industrial applicability of the invention, if it is not obvious from the previous parts of an invention description.
Single parts of the invention description shown after the name of the invention are entitled as: Technical field, Prior Art, Nature of the Invention, Summary of Drawings, Examples of Carrying out of the Invention, Industrial Applicability. Titles are written from the left margin above the text itself with one line space.
Particularity of the Description of Some Inventions
Inventions concerning the:
- mechanical compositions must be taken up by the qualitative as well as quantitative volume of single compounds;
- substances received in physico-chemical method must be taken up by the qualitative as well as quantitative volume of compounds or by the physical structure;
- chemically processed substances, i.e. compounds, including high-molecular, or biologically active compositions, must be taken up by the name of the composition according to the valid chemical nomenclature, by the structural formula of the compounds, or by the universal formula of the compound; if composition an structure of a chemical substance is not known, but its physical characteristic and usage is known, substances must be taken up by the way of production;
- pharmaceuticals, except of the physico-chemical properties the description shall contain also results of pharmacologistic or clinic tests;
- biologically active substances, except of the physico-chemical properties, a description shall contain also the results of biological effect tests;
- substances obtained by nuclear reaction resulting from artificial nuclear reactions in the description they must be taken up by properties inevitable for their unambiguous identification.
Patent Claims
The part of an application containing patent claims shall be entitled as Patent Claims.
The subject for which the protection is sought is defined in at least one patent claim in terms of technical features. Wherever appropriate, claims contain:
- introductory part including the name of an invention and those features which are necessary for the definition of the subject-matter of an invention and which, in combination, are part of the prior art;
- designation part - presented by the expression " characterised in that " - stating the technical features which , in combination with the features stated in the introductory part, it is desired to protect.
If the requirement of unity of invention is fulfilled the application may contain more independent patent claims. To any independent patent claim patent claims relating to special (advantageous) case of realisation may be added ( dependent claim).
Any claim which includes all the features of the other patent claim (dependent patent claim) shall in the introductory part contain the reference to the other claim and state the additional features claimed.
The number of claims shall be adequate to the nature of an invention for which the protection is required. If there are more claims, they are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.
Patent claims must not contain, except where absolutely necessary, references to the description or drawings. In particular they shall not contain references as: "as described in description" or "as illustrated in figure".
Where the application contains drawings, the respective parts of the patent claims shall be marked with the reference signs. The reference signs in patent claims shall be placed in brackets.
Each patent claim is expressed in a single sentence.
When the condition of unity of invention is fulfilled, the following independent patent claims may be stated in the patent application:
- besides an independent patent claim for a product an independent patent claim for the way of its production;
- besides an independent claim for a product an independent patent claim for the way of its production and an independent patent claim for a device or means for performance of this way of it s production;
- besides an independent claim for a product an independent patent claim for a device or means for performance of this way of its production.
Abstract
Abstract shall be as concise as the disclosure permits, it may consists of max. 150 words. Abstract shall not contain statements on the alleged merits or value of the claimed invention or on its speculative application. Each feature of an invention mentioned in the abstract and illustrated in drawing shall be followed by the reference sign, placed between brackets.
The applicant shall indicate the figure or the figures of the drawings which he suggests should accompany the abstract when the abstract is published. This figure or figures shall be filed in a separate sheet.
Drawings
On sheets containing drawings the usable surface area shall not exceed 26,2 x 17 cm. These sheets shall not contain frames round the usable surface. The minimum margins are as follows:
- top 2,5 cm
- left side 2,5 cm
- right side 1,5 cm
- bottom 1,0 cm
Drawings shall be executed in durable, black, uniformity thick lines without shading and colourings. Cross-sections shall be indicated by hatching which should not impede the clear reading of the reference signs and leading lines. The scale of drawings and the distinctness of their graphical execution shall be such that a photographic reproduction with a linear reduction in size to two/thirds would enable all details to be distinguished without difficulty. If the scale is given on a drawing it shall be represented graphically. All numbers, letters and reference signs appearing on drawings shall be simple and clear. Brackets, circles or inverted commas shall not be used in association with numbers and letters. The height of the numbers and letters shall no be less than 0,32 cm.
One sheet of drawings may contain several figures. Single figures are arranged in upright position. The figures are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and independently of the numbering of the sheets. Reference signs shall appear in the drawing only if they are used in the description and vice versa.
The drawing shall not contain any explanations, except, when absolutely indispensable, a single word as "water", "steam", "open", "closed" , "section on A-A", or short catchwords in electrical circuits and block diagrams, if they are indispensable for understanding. Such words shall be placed in a such way, if required, they can be replaced by their translations without interfering them with any lines of the drawings.
General Provisions Governing the Presentation of Application Documents
At least one copy, except the request, shall be presented in such a way that enables direct high quality reproduction or printing. The making up of the main copy shall be on A4 paper which shall be white, strong , matt and durable. Drawings may be filed on transparent paper. A picture or a text shall be placed in upright position. Only one side of the sheet shall be used. The main copy may not contain signature, seal, etc.
Each part of an application (description, claims and abstract) shall commence on a new sheet. All sheets shall be connected in such a way that they can easily be turned over, separated and joined together again.
Except of a request and drawings, the minimum margins shall be as follows:
- top 2,5 cm
- left side 2,5 cm
- right side 2,0 cm
- bottom 2,0 cm
All sheets of the description, the claims and the abstract shall be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals. The request, the description and the abstract shall be typed or printed. The spacing shall be 1 1/2. All texts shall be in characters, the capital letters of which are not less than 0,21 cm high and shall be in dark indelible colour. Chemical structural, common and mathematical formulae shall commence on a new line.
The description, the claims and the abstract must not contain any drawing. They may contain chemical or mathematical formulae and tables.
Mathematical, physical and electrotechnical signs and values as well as the terminology should meet the technical standard, if any. Otherwise only such terms, signs and symbols should be used which are generally accepted in the field of question. The formal documents making up shall meet the technical standards or applicable international regulations.
The terminology and the reference signs shall be consistent through the whole patent application.
c. Transitional and final provisions
d. Signature of competent person
Mr. Ján Bachratý
Vice-president