There are majorly six types of patent applications in India, depending upon the type of application the documents required
and the timeline for certain steps varies therefore it is important to understand the types of Patent applications
that can be filed in India.

Ordinary Application

An ordinary application is a type of patent application filed at the Patent Office in which there is no priority is claimed
or an application that is made without any reference to any other application under process in the office is
called an ordinary application. It can also be stated that in an ordinary application the filing date and the
priority date are same. An ordinary application shall be accompanied with a complete specification and claims.
The timeline for the progression of an ordinary application is calculated from date of filing of the ordinary
application at Indian patent office.

Convention Application

A patent application that is first filed in a convention country and then within the 12 months from date of priority
of the application so made in the convention country is filed in India is known as convention patent application.
Basically a convention application is the patent application which has already been filed in a country other
than India, and now the application for the same invention is being made in India. In order to get convention
application status, the applicant is required to file the application in the Indian Patent Office within 12 months
from the date of first filing of a similar application in the convention country along with complete specifications.

Pct International Application

A PCT Application is a type of patent application that is essentially governed by the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and
can be filed upto 142 countries. An PCT Application allows you to claim your priority in multiple countries and
it also gives a time period of 30 and 31 months from the international filing date or priority date to enter
into each of the country and claim a protection in every country where the applicant is desirous of protecting
its invention. A PCT Application shall be filed within 30 months from the international filing date or priority
date whichever is earlier in India. A PCT application can be filed with complete specifications only.

Pct National Phase Application

When an international application is made according to PCT designating India, an applicant can file the national phase application
in India within 31 months from the international filing date or the priority date (whichever is earlier).
In case the applicant has filed an ordinary application in India first and now wish to file PCT application he/she must
file the PCT within 12 months from the date of filing of the Ordinary Application in India.

Patent Of Addition

When you have already file for a patent application and now you came across a new improvement of modification for the same
invention, you can go ahead for patent of addition if the invention does not involve a substantial inventive
step. The patent of addition can be filed anytime after filing the main patent or along with the main patent
and it will only be granted after the grant of main patent. The major advantage of filing for patent of addition
is that you are not required to pay separate renewal fee for the patent of addition during the term of the main
patent and it expires along with the main patent.

Divisional Application

A patent is granted only for single patent therefore, in case a patent application claims more than one invention the
applicant is required to claim or file for a separate patent application that is known as divisional patent application.
As the divisional patent application arises from the parent application hence it has the same priority date as
that of parent patent application.