SciTech Patent Art’s Divisional/CIP Patent Application service helps clients pursue distinct protections for inventions or modifications disclosed in the parent patent. Divisional applications allow for focused claims and retain the priority date, ensuring a streamlined prosecution process. Meanwhile, Continuation-in-Part (CIP) applications safeguard improvements or enhancements, extending patent coverage. Our team ensures that the claims are clearly differentiated, maintaining legal clarity and enabling strategic protection for incremental innovations.

A Divisional Patent Application is filed when a patent office raises a “lack of unity” objection—indicating that the original application contains claims covering more than one invention. This mechanism allows inventors to pursue separate protection for each invention disclosed in the parent application.

Key Highlights:

• Claims Focus: Divisional applications are filed to protect distinct inventions or aspects originally included in the parent application. This ensures each application remains focused and compliant with unity requirements.

• Retains Priority Date: Though filed independently, a divisional retains the priority date of the parent application, preserving the original filing timeline for legal purposes.

• Independent Examination: Divisional applications are examined separately and can result in individual patent grants, enabling protection for multiple inventive concepts disclosed in the original application.

• Strategic Advantage: Filing a divisional can help in broadening or tailoring the scope of protection, managing prosecution timelines, and maintaining flexibility in the IP strategy.

Our Approach:

When drafting a divisional application, we ensure that the claims are customized to the specific invention being pursued. While the specification from the parent is retained, it is refined to emphasize the subject matter relevant to the divisional claims—ensuring clarity and alignment with the invention’s scope.

A Patent of Addition or Continuation-in-Part (CIP) application is used to protect enhancements, modifications, or improvements made to an already filed or granted patent. This mechanism enables inventors to extend the value of their original invention by safeguarding incremental innovations under the same patent family.

Key Highlights:

• Linked to Parent Patent: These applications are dependent on the original (parent) patent and remain in force as long as the parent is active. If the parent patent is revoked, the Patent of Addition or CIP may continue independently for the remainder of the patent term.

• Priority Date: They retain the priority date of the parent application, offering continuity in protection without initiating a new timeline.

• No Separate Renewal Fees: No additional maintenance fees are required—renewals are managed under the parent patent.

• No Inventive Step Requirement: A Patent of Addition does not need to establish an inventive step over the parent invention, making it easier to secure protection for practical improvements.

Our Approach:

When drafting a Patent of Addition or CIP, we ensure the improvements are clearly distinguished from the original invention. Our team:

• Updates the specification to detail the enhancements.

• Highlights how the new subject matter extends or modifies the original invention.

• Crafts claims that focus precisely on the added elements while aligning with the scope of the parent.

This structured approach ensures that your incremental innovations are comprehensively protected without risking overlap or ambiguity.