Provisions for unity of invention in many jurisdictions usually mean that an application may relate only to one invention.
Provisions for unity of invention in many jurisdictions usually mean that an application may relate only to one invention. However, a group of inventions may also be covered by the same application if the inventions are linked so that they form a single general inventive concept. This is an essential requirement for grant of a patent besides novelty and inventive step.
The Pakistan Patents Ordinance 2000—presently in-force in Pakistan—prior to a 2002 amendment, had a similar provision under Section 13(3), which provided that each application must relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept.
On October 26, 2002, this provision was amended by omitting the words “or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept”, which completely changed the concept of unity of invention and rendered the patents regime in Pakistan contrary to the generally accepted concept throughout the world.
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unity of invention, Pakistan Patents Ordinance
