Final or Complete Application

As discussed earlier a provisional application sets the scene for an invention. It will describe the invention in general terms and should include a method for putting it into practice. Although filed at a Patent Office the contents of the Provisional application are kept secret and are not open to public inspection.

The Provisional application confers no legal rights to the inventor. To monopolise the invention the inventor is required to file a Final or Complete application.

A complete specification is a much more intricate and detailed document than the earlier filed provisional specification; great skill and much thought is involved in its preparation. The Complete specification will define the invention in both technical and legal terms and will include claims, which define the invention's scope or legal boundaries.

The complete specification may include improvements to the original idea described in the earlier provisional specification, or modifications required, for example, due to manufacturing difficulties discovered since the provisional was filed. It must include the "best method" of putting the invention into practice. By withholding crucial information you may jeopardize your patent.

Complete Specification - Requirements

The Completed Application will include a specification sufficiently describing the invention so that any person who is skilled in that particular can put the invention into practice. The Complete specification will generally contain a background illustrating the problem to be solved and the disadvantages posed by current solutions to the problem. The Complete specification should also have a section, supported by examples and drawings, disclosing different embodiments of the invention and will conclude with one or more claims outlining the monopoly being sought (claimed) by the inventor. It is good practice to draft the Claims to provide the broadest possible coverage of the invention and therefore the greatest protection. Most Complete Specifications will end with an Abstract providing a potted picture of the important aspects of the invention.