Form of Application :
Section 7 dealing with form of application requires every application for a patent to be made for one invention only. Where the application is made by virtue of an assignment of the right to apply for a patent for the invention, there shall be furnished with the application proof of the right to make the application.
In respect of one single invention there must be one single patent. A patent may be in respect of a substance or in respect of a process. But it is not possible to bifurcate a patent and state that it relates to the substance and the other to the process. In order to have a complete patent, the specifications and the claims must be clearly and distinctly mentioned. [Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. v. Controller General of Patents, designs & Trade Mark & Another AIR 1978 Cal.77.]
Every international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for a patent, as may be filed designating India shall be deemed to be an application under the Act, if a corresponding application has also been filed before Controller in India. The filing date of such application and its complete specification processed by patent office as designated office or elected office shall be the international filing date accorded under the PCT. Section 7(4) provides that every such application, not being a convention application or an application filed under PCT designating India, shall be accompanied by a provisional or a complete specification.
Mention should be made that obtaining patents can be a long and expensive process. Fortunately for inventors several countries in 1970 decided to simplify the process for protecting patents around the world by creating the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, inventors can submit just one international application which is valid in any or all of the more than 120 countries that are members of this Treaty. Inventors may apply for a patent either in all the member countries of PCT or in selected group of countries. Only inventors who are citizens or residents of the member countries of the PCT can use this easier system to file international patent applications.