The provision of divisional application derives its nexus from the concept of ‘Unity of Invention’ which is an administrative requirement present in various forms in the Patent Laws of Countries around the world. The formal requirement restricts the applicant from claiming more than one invention in a single application.
Initially, the Patents and Designs Act, 1911 did not provided any opportunity to the applicant to protect its multiple inventions disclosed in one patent application by way of divisional application, rather the controller had the power to refuse the patent application on the basis of multiplicity of invention or may direct the applicant to straightaway delete the additional inventions from the application. For the first time in the Indian patent history the mechanism of filing divisional application for the protection of multiple inventions disclosed in single patent application, was introduced by Patents and Designs (Amendment) Act, 1930.