Divisional patent applications refer to patent applications that are divided out of an initially filed application (also referred as the main or parent patent application). Section 16 of the Patents Act 1970 provides that a divisional application can be filed at any time before grant (or refusal) of the parent application. While a divisional application is usually filed with a view to resolving invention-based objections raised by the controller in the examination report, it may also be filed voluntarily by the applicant, provided that the applicant is able to prove the presence of distinct inventions in respect of the parent patent application.
