• Patent fees

Fees associated with filing patent applications in India as well as other patent fees are available in the fee calculator.

• Term for filing a patent application in India

The term for filing a patent application in India claiming conventional priority is 12 months from the priority date. Any extension or restoration of this term is not allowed in India.

• Filing requirements in India

The official languages for patent registration in India are English and Hindi. It is possible to file an application in a foreign language, provided that a verified translation into English is included. If such a translation is not submitted at the time of filing, a verified English translation of any requested document can be submitted within three months from the invitation by the Indian IP Office. It’s also possible to extend the deadline for filing the translation of the patent application by up to 6 months by paying the corresponding fees.

To obtain the date of filing, a patent application in India should have:
- complete specification including description, claims, abstract and drawings in English or Hindi;
- details of the applicant(s) and inventor(s), i.e. name, nationality and complete address(es);
- title of the invention;
- details of the priority claim: date, application number and country;
- payment of the prescribed filing fee.

If the Priority Document is not in English, its English translation must be submitted within 12 months for conventional entries or by the earliest priority date claimed. If not submitted within this 12-month period, it should be submitted within three months from receiving an invitation from the Indian Patent Office. The deadline for filing the Priority Document may be extended by up to six months, subject to the payment of the corresponding fees.

A scanned copy of the Power of Attorney can be submitted within 3 months from the filing date, however, the original should be submitted within 15 days from receiving corresponding notification from the Office, if requested. Legalisation or notarization of the Power of Attorney is not required. It is recommended to always provide the original signed Power of Attorney for submission to the Indian Patent Office to complete the filing requirements.

If the applicant is not the inventor, a copy notarized in the original of the Declaration of Inventorship (Assignment Deed), assigning the rights in the invention to the applicant, should be provided within six months from the date of filing a patent application in India.

Alternatively, an Application Form 1 having the Inventor’s signatures assigning the rights to the applicant can also be submitted and be provided within 6 months from the date of filing of a patent application in India. Only a simple execution by the Inventors in Form 1 what is required. The legalization and notarization of the Form 1 signed by the Inventors is not required.

The original of the above may be requested by the Office and which should be submitted within 15 days from the corresponding notification. It is recommended to always provide the original notarized copy of the Assignment Deed or the original signed copy of Application Form 1, which ever being provided for submission to the Indian Patent Office to complete the filing requirements.

Information about family patent applications/patents (a set of patent applications/patents filed in various countries to protect a single invention), including application numbers, filing dates, publication numbers, publication dates, grant dates, and patent numbers, must be filed at the time of filing the application or within three months from the filing date. Subsequently, this information must be provided within three months after receiving the first Office Action. However, updated statements can still be additionally requested by the controller, with a demand for submission within two months from the issuance of such request.

• Examination of a patent application in India

A request for the substantive examination of a patent application in India should be made within 31 months from the application filing date or priority date, whichever is earlier, for applications filed on or after March 15, 2024. For applications filed on or before March 14, 2024, the examination request deadline is 48 months from the filing or priority date. The deadline for requesting examination can be extended by up to 6 months by paying the corresponding fees. It is possible to request an accelerated examination under PPH which is at present only available with Japanese Patent Office.

• Novelty grace period

In India, the novelty grace period constitutes 12 months before the Indian filing date or before the priority date if the disclosure was made:

- by previous publication of complete specification when the matter was published without the consent of the inventor or any person having rights over the said complete specification;
- by previous communication to the government to investigate the invention or its merits;
- by public display of the invention at an industrial or other exhibition recognised by the Central Government of India;
- by the publication of any description or the use of the invention in consequence of the display at any such exhibition without the consent of the inventor or a person deriving title from him;
- by the description of the invention in a newspaper read before a learned society or published for the use of such a society;
- by public working for the purposes of reasonable trial only by the applicant or any person from whom he derives title or with the consent of the parties set forth above.

• Grant, validity term and maintenance fees

Patents in India are valid for 20 years from the date of filing. The official grant fee is not stipulated. Annual maintenance of an Indian patent in force for the first 3 years should be paid after completion of the patent registration procedure before the expiry of the 2nd year from the filing date/priority date. If the patent has been granted later than two years from the filing date, it is possible to pay the annuities in accumulated manner within three months of grant. The deadline for the payment of annuities can be extended by up to 6 months upon payment of the corresponding fees. It is also mandatory to file a Working Statement once every three years. The initial statement must be filed within six months from the end of the third financial year. Extensions of time or condoning delays in filing the working statement by three months are possible upon filing a corresponding request.

• Duration of registration procedure

It takes depending on case-to-case basis and subject to actions taken by IPO an average of 2-4 years from filing to granting of a patent in India. 

• Utility Model

It is currently not possible to obtain utility model protection under the current IP legislation in India.

• Representation by a patent attorney

The applicant is required to have an address for service in India. For foreign applicants, it is recommended to perform patent prosecution in India through an agent, a registered Indian patent attorney.

•  Notes

1. Online database for Indian Patents Search.
2. An applicant may file one or more additional divisional applications for an invention disclosed in either a provisional or complete specification or in a further divisional application.
3. After the grant of a Patent, a Patentee has the option to pay renewal fees in advance for a minimum of four years. By choosing this option and paying the fees electronically, the patentee can receive a ten percent reduction in the official fees.

Brief summary is based on the information provided by Vutts & Associates on 08.02.2024
Please contact us if the above information is not in conformity with Indian IP Laws