At present, most patent applications are examined based on their specification, without asserting the limitations of the claims. This raises issues for the credibility of the applicant’s rights. In general, an invention is patentable based on three requirements:
- novelty;
- inventive step; and
- industrial application.
Thus, the question that arises is whether these requirements refer to the specification, the claims or both. In general, the Indian Patent Office requires claims to conform with the invention described in the specification and the meaning of the terms and phrases used in the claims to be clear by reference to the overall description.