In case an inventor has a concept or an idea that is incomplete or have to be completed which might require sometime, then he shall file an application for a patent with a simple abstract with maximum possible information stating that the invention could be this or that addressing any problem that it might solve if completed.
Such a patent application is called a provisional patent application and such a draft is called a provisional specification.
Provisional patent applications need not be too clear and the patent office gives a time of about 12 months which shall also be extended up to 6 more months within which a formal complete patent application should be filed coherent to the provisional application and such a complete patent application shall bare all the correct information in detail explaining the invention and its working completely. Such a complete draft of a patent is called the Complete Specification or the patent application.
Provisional patent applications will not be published by the Patent Office (they are incomplete), Complete patent applications (complete specifications) will only be published.
A provisional specification actually reserves the date for the inventor to the Patent before anyone else claims the same and provides time to the inventor or the applicant for completing the invention.
The inventor after completing the invention shall either file a patent application citing the provisional application as the former one or shall leave off the provisional specification if he thinks that there is a lot of difference between the prime fact of the invention itself between the two applications and file a new complete specification directly without citing the provisional one filed earlier.
A Complete Specification shall consist of the following importantly,
- Title of the Invention
- Preamble
- Technical field of the invention
- Background of the invention
- Objects of the invention
- Brief description of the drawings
- Detailed description of the invention
- Claims (The Definite Fence of the Invention’s Boundaries)
- Abstract