# Patent FER Reply Generator URL: https://discuvr.org/drafting-and-prosecution-intelligence/ Last updated: 2026-11-07 Paste the objections from an Indian patent FER and your inventive-step points to get a draft reply letter, or run a risk review on a draft you have. Paste the objections from an Indian Patent Office First Examination Report (FER), add your inventive-step points, and get a draft reply letter that takes the objections one by one. A second tab reviews a draft you already have and returns a table of risks rated High, Medium or Low. Both give a first draft for a qualified patent agent or attorney to check, not something to file as it is. ## What it does - Generate document: application number, title, the FER objections (the only required field), inventive-step details and optional instructions become a reply written as a formal letter to the Patent Office. - Review document: upload a PDF, DOCX or TXT file up to 10 MB, or paste the text, and get findings with a category, the question to address, the analysis, recommendations and a risk level. - Works only from what you paste or upload: it does not fetch the file from the patent office, search prior art or read your specification unless you paste it in. - The reply and the review come back in the page language, and a Copy button takes the draft into your editor. ## How it works 1. Open Generate document and paste the objections from the FER, numbered as in the report, with the cited documents and the claims each one targets. 2. Add the application number, title and your inventive-step points (the technical effect, what the prior art lacks) plus any instruction, then press Generate reply. 3. Copy the draft and check every objection number, claim reference and cited document against the FER. To test a draft before filing, paste it into Review document. ## What the draft reply is built from Only the fields you fill in. The model is told to answer each objection in turn, argue the technical differences from the cited prior art, set out the inventive step and the technical advantages, and avoid bare conclusions. It never sees your specification or the cited documents unless you paste the relevant parts, so claim wording or a passage from D1 that you did not supply is a guess and must be checked. An empty application number or title comes out as a placeholder such as [Application Number]. ## What the review looks for Six areas: weak or conclusory claim language, overbroad assertions, a missing inventive-step argument, technical statements without support, clarity or enablement problems, and other IP risks. An empty table means the model rated nothing as significant, not that the document is safe. A scanned PDF with no text layer gives no text, old .doc files are refused (save as DOCX or PDF), and text over 50,000 characters is refused at review, so paste the part that matters. ## Limits and the reply deadline You need to be signed in, and the text goes to Google's Gemini model. The objections, inventive-step and review fields take up to 50,000 characters each and the short fields 2,000; longer text is rejected, not cut. Each IP address gets 15 actions per 10 minutes, shared by generating, reviewing and file extraction. The time to put an application in order after an FER is set by rule 24B of the Patents Rules, 2003, and an application not in order in time is treated as abandoned under section 21(1) of the Patents Act, 1970, so take the date from the FER and leave room for review. ## Common FER objections and the section behind each An FER names the provision of the Patents Act, 1970 behind each objection, and the reply should answer it under the same provision. Novelty: a cited document is said to anticipate the claim, so it is not a new invention under section 2(1)(l); point to a claimed feature the document does not disclose. Inventive step: section 2(1)(ja) asks for a technical advance over existing knowledge or economic significance, or both, that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art, so name the feature D1 lacks and the technical effect it gives. Not an invention: section 3 lists exclusions, such as section 3(k) for a mathematical or business method, a computer programme per se or algorithms, and section 3(d) for a new form of a known substance that does not enhance its known efficacy. Description and claims: section 10(4) requires the complete specification to fully and particularly describe the invention and its operation, and section 10(5) requires claims that relate to a single invention, are clear and succinct and are fairly based on the matter disclosed. Keep the section number with each objection you paste, so the draft can answer it under that provision. ## Questions **What file formats can I upload?** In Review document: PDF, DOCX or TXT up to 10 MB. Old .doc files are refused, and a scanned PDF with no text layer gives no text. Generate document has no upload: paste the objections from the FER as text. **Can I file the output directly?** No. Treat it as a first draft. A qualified patent agent or attorney should check every argument, claim reference and citation against the FER and the specification before it goes to the Patent Office. **Are my documents stored?** The text you send goes to Google's Gemini API to write the reply or the review. Discuvr does not save the text or the result; the usage record holds only which optional fields were filled and a character count. Do not send anything you are not allowed to share with a third-party AI service. **Does it work for patent offices outside India?** It is written for replies to the Indian Patent Office. A US office action or an EPO communication follows different rules, so use the draft there only as a starting point. **How long do I have to reply to an FER?** Six months from the date the FER is issued, under rule 24B(5) of the Patents Rules, 2003. Under rule 24B(6) that period can be extended by up to three months on a request in Form 4. An application not put in order in time is treated as abandoned under section 21(1) of the Patents Act, 1970, so take the date from your own FER. **Can the reply propose amended claims?** Only from claims you paste: the tool never sees your specification or claim set. Put the current claims and the change you want, for example "add the feature of claim 3 to claim 1", in Additional instructions, and the draft can then argue from the amended set. Any amendment has to pass section 59(1) of the Patents Act, 1970: it must be by way of disclaimer, correction or explanation, it must not add matter that was not in substance disclosed in the specification before the amendment, and an amended claim must fall wholly within the scope of a claim before the amendment. Check the support for every added feature in the specification as filed before you send the reply. **When do I have to request examination of a patent application in India?** Within 31 months from the priority date or the date of filing, whichever is earlier, by filing Form 18 (Patents Rules, 2003, rule 24B(1), as amended with effect from 15 March 2024). An application filed before 15 March 2024 keeps the earlier 48-month period. If no request is made in time, the application is treated as withdrawn (Patents Act, 1970, section 11B). The Patent Office examines an application only after this request, so the FER, and the six months to reply to it under rule 24B(5), come later. Take the dates from your own filing receipt, since the period runs from the earliest priority date. **How long after a provisional application must I file the complete specification?** 12 months from the date of filing the application with the provisional specification. If the complete specification is not filed within that time, the application is deemed to be abandoned (Patents Act, 1970, section 9(1)). Where you filed several provisional specifications for cognate inventions and the Controller allows one complete specification for all of them (section 9(2)), the 12 months run from the earliest provisional. A claim keeps the date of the provisional as its priority date only if it is fairly based on matter disclosed in it (section 11), so a feature first added in the complete specification gets the later date. Before you file, upload or paste the draft complete specification into Review document to check claim language, support and clarity. ## More in Legal & Compliance - [Government Scheme Eligibility Finder](https://discuvr.org/govt-scheme-eligibility/) - [IP Law Q&A Chatbot](https://discuvr.org/ip-law-qa-chatbot/) ## Often used with - [Date Difference Calculator](https://discuvr.org/date-difference/) - [Sign PDF](https://discuvr.org/sign-pdf/) --- Part of Discuvr (https://discuvr.org/): Discuvr is a collection of free, focused tools for day-to-day professional work - office and data utilities, legal and compliance helpers, privacy and security checks, and developer formatters. Every tool has its own page, and most can also be called from ChatGPT or Claude over MCP.