An invention relating either to a product or process that is new, involving inventive steps and capable of industrial application can be patented. However, it must not fall into the categories of inventions that are non- patentable under sections 3 and 4 of the Act.

An invention is patentable subject matter if it meets the following criteria –

i) It should be novel.

ii) It should have inventive steps or it must be non-obvious.

iii) It should be capable of Industrial application.

iv) It should not attract the provisions of section 3 and 4 of the Patents Act 1970.

Indian Patent Law follows the first to file system. A provisional application is an application which can be filed if the invention is still under experimentation stage. Filing a provisional specification provides the advantage to the inventor since it helps in establishing a ―priority date of the invention. Further, the inventor gets 12 months’ time to fully develop the invention and ascertain its market potential and to file the complete specification.