Congratulations on filing a patent application with INPI!
Except you’ve received a registered letter informing you that your application may be rejected for lack of clarity. You now have two months from the date of receipt to reply.
A YesMyPatent expert explains.
Patentability criteria
There are 3 main criteria for patentability:
- Novelty: the invention must be new in relation to what already exists (patents, publications, products, etc.).
- Inventiveness: the invention must not be obvious to the person skilled in the art in view of what already existed.
- Industrial application: the invention must be capable of being manufactured or used in any type of industry.
These are the ones we hear the most about.
However, there are others, such as the requirement for clear claims.
This obligation reflects the fact that all claim terms must be comprehensible to a specialist in the field.
If any terms are unclear, this may lead to objections from the Examiner and your patent application could be rejected, for example in the form of such a notification :
Reason: lack of clarity
“Claim No. 3 is not established in accordance with Articles L. 612-6 to R. 612-19 of the Code and Article 9 of Decision 2018-156. This claim lacks clarity and fails to define the subject matter of the protection applied for.”
When you receive this notification from INPI, it’s because the Technical Examiner finds that some of the terms of the claim are not clearly understandable without leaving room for interpretation by a specialist in the field.
What are the risks of lack of clarity?
The major risk of a lack of clarity is rejection.
That is, :
- If you do not respond to INPI’s notification within the time limit, or
- If the answer given is not satisfactory to the Examiner,
Then the INPI examiner may reject your patent application.
Lack of clarity: what are the solutions?
- You can call the Examiner by telephone to discuss this lack of clarity. He’ll be able to explain what’s bothering him, and suggest a modification.
- You can modify the claims of your application according to the Examiner’s expectations, taking into account his comments.
In all cases, we advise you to contact a firm of patent attorneys. They will be able to help you analyze the notification and draft a response to the INPI examiner.
