Filing Patent Application with Indian Patent Office
Why the Patent Process Punishes Delay More Than Any Other IP Right
A patent is the only intellectual property right in India that can be lost permanently before the application is even filed — and it is lost by doing something that feels entirely natural. Presenting the invention at a trade fair. Publishing a paper. Demonstrating a prototype to a prospective customer without a confidentiality agreement. Posting a product video. Launching a crowdfunding page. India applies a standard of absolute novelty, which means an invention must not have been published or publicly used anywhere in the world before the priority date. There is no general grace period. Section 31 provides only a narrow twelve-month exception, essentially confined to display at an exhibition notified by the Central Government and a few analogous situations, and it rescues almost nobody who did not plan for it. Every other IP right forgives a late start. Patents do not.
The second thing that makes patent filing different is that it is a drafting exercise before it is a filing exercise. A trademark application is a form; the mark either is or is not registrable. A patent application is a technical and legal document whose claims define, word by word, the boundary of a monopoly that will be tested by examiners, by opponents and eventually by competitors’ lawyers. Claims drafted too broadly are refused or revoked for want of novelty or inventive step. Claims drafted too narrowly are granted and then designed around in an afternoon. Section 10(4) additionally requires the specification to fully and particularly describe the invention and disclose the best method of performing it known to the applicant — so the applicant cannot hold back the commercially important part while claiming the rest. What is filed on day one determines what can be claimed for the next twenty years, because you cannot later add matter that was not disclosed at the outset.
The third feature is a calendar of deadlines that runs for two decades and forgives very little. A provisional specification must be followed by a complete specification within twelve months. The request for examination has its own window, shortened significantly by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024. A First Examination Report must be answered and the application put in order for grant within six months, extendable by three. Renewal fees fall due annually from the third year. A statement of working must be filed periodically. Foreign filing requires either prior written permission under Section 39 or a six-week wait after the Indian filing — and getting that wrong exposes the applicant to revocation and to penal consequences under Section 118. This page sets out the route through all of it: what can be patented, what Sections 3 and 4 exclude, which application type to choose, what has to be filed and when, what it costs, and where applications are most often lost.
What Can Be Patented
Section 2(1)(j) defines an invention as a new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application. Three requirements, all of which must be satisfied:
Novelty. Under Section 2(1)(l), a new invention is one that has not been anticipated by publication in any document or used in the country or elsewhere in the world before the date of filing — the absolute novelty standard. Any prior disclosure, including the inventor’s own, destroys novelty.
Inventive step. Under Section 2(1)(ja), a feature of an invention that involves technical advance as compared to existing knowledge, or having economic significance, or both, and that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art. India’s definition is notably demanding, because it requires technical advance or economic significance in addition to non-obviousness.
Industrial application. Under Section 2(1)(ac), capable of being made or used in an industry.
What Cannot Be Patented — Sections 3 and 4
This is where most Indian applications actually fail, and it should be assessed before a single rupee is spent on drafting.
| Provision | Excluded subject matter |
|---|---|
| 3(a) | Frivolous inventions, or those claiming anything contrary to well established natural laws |
| 3(b) | Inventions contrary to public order or morality, or causing serious prejudice to human, animal or plant life or health, or to the environment |
| 3(c) | Mere discovery of a scientific principle or an abstract theory, or discovery of a living or non-living substance occurring in nature |
| 3(d) | Mere discovery of a new form of a known substance that does not result in enhancement of known efficacy; new property or new use of a known substance; mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless it results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant |
| 3(e) | A substance obtained by mere admixture resulting only in aggregation of properties |
| 3(f) | Mere arrangement, re-arrangement or duplication of known devices each functioning independently |
| 3(h) | A method of agriculture or horticulture |
| 3(i) | Any process for the medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic treatment of humans or animals |
| 3(j) | Plants and animals in whole or any part thereof other than micro-organisms; essentially biological processes; seeds and varieties |
| 3(k) | A mathematical or business method, or a computer programme per se, or algorithms |
| 3(l) | Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, cinematographic works and television productions |
| 3(m) | A mere scheme, rule or method of performing a mental act, or a method of playing a game |
| 3(n) | Presentation of information |
| 3(o) | Topography of integrated circuits |
| 3(p) | Traditional knowledge, or an aggregation or duplication of known properties of traditionally known components |
| Section 4 | Inventions relating to atomic energy falling within Section 20(1) of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 |
The three exclusions that matter most in practice
Section 3(d) is the provision that made Indian patent law internationally known, tested in Novartis AG v. Union of India. A new salt, ester, polymorph, isomer or other derivative of a known substance is deemed to be the same substance unless it differs significantly in properties with regard to efficacy. It is the principal barrier to incremental pharmaceutical claiming in India.
Section 3(k) excludes computer programmes per se, business methods, mathematical methods and algorithms. The phrase per se is where the entire argument sits: Indian practice, guided by the Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions, accepts that an invention is not excluded merely because it is implemented in software, provided the claimed invention demonstrates a genuine technical effect or technical contribution rather than being a computer programme as such. Most SaaS and app products do not clear this. Inventions involving hardware interaction, signal processing, network efficiency or a genuine technical architecture may.
Section 3(i) excludes methods of treatment and diagnosis. Devices, compositions and apparatus used in treatment remain patentable; the method of treating a patient does not.
Choosing the Right Type of Application
| Type | Provision | When it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Provisional specification | Section 9 | The invention is conceived but not fully developed. Secures a priority date; the complete specification must follow within 12 months or the application is deemed abandoned |
| Complete specification | Sections 9, 10 | The invention is fully developed and can be described with claims |
| Ordinary application | Section 7 | First filing in India, with no priority claim |
| Convention application | Section 135 | Priority claimed from an application in a Convention country, filed in India within 12 months of the earliest priority |
| PCT national phase | Section 7(1A) | Entry into India from an international PCT application, within 31 months from the earliest priority date |
| PCT international application | — | Filed through the Indian Patent Office as Receiving Office, preserving the option to file in multiple countries |
| Divisional application | Section 16 | Where the claims of the parent disclose more than one invention; the divisional carries the parent’s filing date |
| Patent of addition | Sections 54–56 | An improvement or modification of an invention already applied for or patented; term is co-extensive with the main patent and no separate renewal fee is payable |
The provisional filing decision
A provisional specification is often the right first step for a startup or a research team. It is cheaper, it does not require claims, and it secures a priority date while development continues. Two cautions:
- The provisional must describe the invention adequately. A one-page outline that does not disclose what is later claimed will not support the claims, and the priority date will be lost for that matter.
- The twelve-month deadline is absolute. If the complete specification is not filed within twelve months, the application is deemed abandoned under Section 9(1).
Who Can Apply — Section 6
An application may be made by:
- The true and first inventor of the invention
- The assignee of the true and first inventor
- The legal representative of a deceased person who was entitled to make the application immediately before death
The inventor must always be named, even where the applicant is a company. Form 5, the declaration as to inventorship, is filed with the complete specification. Where the invention was made by employees, the company should hold a written assignment or an employment agreement containing an effective assignment of inventions — the naming of the inventor and the ownership by the company are two different things, and both must be documented.
The Forms and Documents
| Form | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Form 1 | Application for grant of patent |
| Form 2 | Provisional or complete specification |
| Form 3 | Statement and undertaking regarding foreign applications under Section 8 |
| Form 5 | Declaration as to inventorship, filed with the complete specification |
| Form 26 | Power of attorney in favour of the patent agent or attorney |
| Form 28 | Claim for status as a startup or small entity, to obtain the reduced fee |
| Form 9 | Request for early publication |
| Form 18 | Request for examination |
| Form 18A | Request for expedited examination |
| Form 4 | Request for extension of time |
| Form 7A | Pre-grant opposition representation |
| Form 7 | Post-grant opposition |
| Form 27 | Statement regarding the working of the patented invention, under Section 146 |
| Form 25 | Request for permission to file an application outside India under Section 39 |
Supporting documents typically include the specification with claims, abstract and drawings, priority documents and their verified translations where priority is claimed, an assignment or proof of right where the applicant is not the inventor, and the startup or MSME recognition certificate where the reduced fee is claimed.
The Timeline From Filing to Grant
1. Filing. Application number and date of filing allotted. The date of filing or the priority date is the reference point for everything that follows.
2. Publication — Section 11A. The application is published in the Patent Office Journal after 18 months from the priority date or filing date, whichever is earlier. Early publication may be requested on Form 9, which typically brings publication forward substantially and starts the examination clock earlier. On publication the applicant acquires like privileges and rights as if a patent had been granted, though no infringement proceedings may be brought until grant.
3. Request for examination — Form 18. Examination is not automatic. If no request is filed within the prescribed period, the application is treated as withdrawn. The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 reduced this period from 48 months to 31 months from the priority date. Applications filed before the amendment came into force may be governed by the earlier period, so the applicable window should be confirmed for each case.
4. Expedited examination — Form 18A. Available to defined categories of applicant, which have been progressively widened and include startups, small entities, female applicants, government undertakings, educational institutions and applicants eligible under a Patent Prosecution Highway arrangement. It reduces the time to a First Examination Report very considerably, at a higher official fee.
5. First Examination Report. The Controller issues the FER setting out objections — novelty, inventive step, Section 3 exclusions, sufficiency, clarity of claims, unity of invention, and formal requirements.
6. Response to the FER — Rule 24B. The application must be put in order for grant within six months from the date of the FER, extendable by a further three months on a request in Form 4. If it is not, the application is deemed abandoned. This is the most frequently missed deadline in Indian patent practice.
7. Hearing — Section 14. Where objections remain, the Controller gives an opportunity of being heard before refusing the application. Written submissions are ordinarily filed within a short period after the hearing.
8. Pre-grant opposition — Section 25(1). After publication and before grant, any person may represent by way of opposition on Form 7A. The grounds include wrongful obtaining, prior publication, prior claiming, prior public knowledge or use, obviousness, non-patentability under Section 3, insufficiency, non-disclosure or wrong information under Section 8, and non-disclosure of the source and geographical origin of biological material. The 2024 Rules introduced procedural changes including a fee and a maintainability determination.
9. Grant — Section 43. The patent is granted and the fact published in the journal.
10. Post-grant opposition — Section 25(2). Any person interested may oppose within twelve months from the date of publication of the grant, on Form 7. The opposition is referred to an Opposition Board.
Indicative overall timeline: commonly three to five years from filing to grant on the ordinary route; substantially less with early publication and expedited examination.
After Grant: Term, Renewals and Working
Term — Section 53. Twenty years from the date of filing of the application. For a national phase application, the term runs from the international filing date. There is no extension.
Renewal fees — Section 53(2). Payable annually from the third year onwards, the fee for the third year falling due before the expiration of the second year from the date of the patent. Fees may be paid in advance for multiple years. A six-month extension is available on a request in Form 4.
Cessation and restoration — Sections 60 to 62. If renewal fees are not paid, the patent ceases. An application for restoration may be made within eighteen months from the date of cessation, and restoration is discretionary.
Statement of working — Section 146 and Form 27. The patentee and every licensee must furnish a statement as to the extent to which the patented invention has been worked in India. The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 changed the frequency to once every three financial years, with the statement due within six months from the expiry of each such period. Failure to furnish the information attracts penal consequences under Section 122.
Compulsory licence — Section 84. After three years from the date of grant, any person interested may apply for a compulsory licence on grounds including that the reasonable requirements of the public have not been satisfied, that the invention is not available at a reasonably affordable price, or that it is not worked in the territory of India.
The Foreign Filing Restriction — Section 39
This is the provision that Indian applicants most often breach without knowing it exists.
No person resident in India may make or cause to be made an application for a patent outside India for an invention, unless either:
- A written permission has been obtained from the Controller, on a request in Form 25; or
- An application for a patent for the same invention has been made in India not less than six weeks before the foreign application, and no secrecy direction has been given under Section 35, or all such directions have been revoked.
The consequences are severe. Under Section 40, a patent granted in contravention is liable to be revoked under Section 64, and the Indian application is deemed to have been abandoned. Section 118 provides for imprisonment which may extend to two years, or fine, or both.
Practical rule: file in India first, or obtain a foreign filing licence on Form 25 before filing anywhere else. Indian inventors working with foreign co-applicants, foreign employers or overseas incubators should treat this as a threshold check, not an afterthought.
Section 8: The Duty to Disclose Foreign Applications
Section 8 requires an applicant who is prosecuting, either alone or jointly, an application for the same or substantially the same invention outside India, to file a statement and undertaking on Form 3 setting out particulars of those applications, and to keep the Controller informed of their details.
Non-compliance or furnishing false information is a ground of pre-grant and post-grant opposition and a ground of revocation under Section 64(1)(m).
The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 relaxed the periodic updating obligation, aligning it with the examination stage rather than requiring rolling six-monthly updates. Because this area has changed, the applicable requirement should be confirmed for each application rather than assumed.
Fees (Indicative, E-Filing)
The Patents Rules provide a substantially reduced fee scale for natural persons, startups, small entities and educational institutions, against a higher scale for other applicants.
| Item | Natural person / Startup / Small entity / Educational institution | Others |
|---|---|---|
| Application for grant (Form 1) | ₹1,600 | ₹8,000 |
| Each claim in excess of 10 | ₹320 | ₹1,600 |
| Each page of specification in excess of 30 | ₹160 | ₹800 |
| Early publication (Form 9) | ₹2,500 | ₹12,500 |
| Request for examination (Form 18) | ₹4,000 | ₹20,000 |
| Expedited examination (Form 18A) | ₹8,000 | ₹60,000 |
| Extension of time (Form 4), per month | ₹480 | ₹2,400 |
| Renewal fees | Increase progressively year on year | Increase progressively year on year |
These figures are indicative. Patent fees were revised by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024, and are revised from time to time. Please confirm the current fee for your applicant category and filing route before filing. Professional and drafting fees are quoted separately.
A useful protection to know: where an applicant who filed as a startup or small entity subsequently ceases to hold that status merely because of the lapse of the recognition period or because turnover has crossed the threshold, the difference in the scale of fees is not required to be paid. Where the application is transferred to a party outside the concessional category, the difference becomes payable.
Before You File: The Preparation That Decides the Outcome
1. Do not disclose. No publication, no presentation, no demonstration without an NDA, no product launch, no crowdfunding page, no conference paper. Absolute novelty is unforgiving, and Section 31’s twelve-month exception is far narrower than most people assume.
2. Run a prior art search. Indian and international databases, patent and non-patent literature. The object is not only to check novelty but to understand the landscape you will be claiming into, and to inform how the claims are drafted.
3. Assess patentability honestly, including Sections 3 and 4. Many inventions that are novel and commercially valuable are simply excluded subject matter in India. It is far cheaper to discover that at the assessment stage.
4. Decide patent versus trade secret. A patent requires full public disclosure in exchange for a twenty-year monopoly. A trade secret lasts as long as it stays secret but gives nothing against independent development or reverse engineering. Where the invention can be reverse engineered from the product, patent. Where it cannot, and the process can genuinely be kept confidential, a trade secret is often the better commercial answer.
5. Fix the ownership. Inventor declarations, employment agreements containing an assignment of inventions, assignments from consultants and collaborators, and clarity where the work was done with an institution or under a funded project.
6. Draft the specification properly. Full and particular description, the best method known to the applicant under Section 10(4)(b), enabling disclosure, and a claim set that is layered — a broad independent claim supported by progressively narrower dependent claims that survive if the broad claim falls.
7. Plan the international route from the outset. Direct Convention filings within twelve months, or the PCT route with national phase entry at thirty-one months. Section 39 must be complied with either way.
Where Patent Applications Are Lost
- Public disclosure before filing — the most common and the least recoverable error
- Filing abroad without complying with Section 39, exposing the patent to revocation and the applicant to penalty
- A provisional specification that does not adequately describe what is later claimed
- Missing the twelve-month deadline for the complete specification
- Missing the request for examination window, so the application is treated as withdrawn
- Missing the six-month FER response deadline under Rule 24B, resulting in deemed abandonment
- Claims drafted too broadly, refused or revoked for want of novelty or inventive step
- Claims drafted too narrowly, granted but trivially designed around
- Failure to disclose the best method, a ground of revocation under Section 64
- Non-compliance with Section 8 and Form 3, a ground of both opposition and revocation
- Missing renewal fees, allowing the patent to cease
- Not filing Form 27 working statements within the prescribed period
- Ignoring Sections 3 and 4 at the outset and spending on an application that was never patentable
- Company applying without a written assignment of inventions from the employee inventors
How Delhi Legal Company Handles Patent Filings
- Patentability assessment — novelty, inventive step, industrial application, and a specific analysis against every relevant limb of Sections 3 and 4 before any drafting begins
- Prior art search across Indian and international patent and non-patent literature, with a written opinion
- Strategy — provisional versus complete, ordinary versus PCT versus Convention, and the timing of publication and examination requests
- Drafting — specification, claims, abstract and drawings, with a layered claim set and full compliance with Section 10(4)
- Compliance — Section 39 foreign filing licence on Form 25 where required, Form 3 under Section 8, Form 5 inventorship, Form 28 for startup and small entity status
- Prosecution — examination requests, FER responses within Rule 24B timelines, hearings before the Controller, and amendments under Section 57
- Opposition — pre-grant representations under Section 25(1) and post-grant oppositions under Section 25(2), for both applicants and opponents
- Post-grant management — renewal docketing, Form 27 working statements, restoration under Section 60, assignments and licensing
- International — PCT filings, national phase entries and coordination with foreign associates
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What can be patented in India?
A. Under Section 2(1)(j), a new product or process that involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application. It must be novel against everything published or publicly used anywhere in the world before the priority date, it must not be obvious to a person skilled in the art and must show technical advance or economic significance, and it must not fall within the exclusions in Sections 3 and 4.
2. Can I patent an idea?
A. No. A patent protects an invention that has been worked out sufficiently to be described fully and particularly, with claims defining its scope. An idea without a technical solution cannot be described or claimed, and Section 3 separately excludes abstract theories, schemes and methods of performing mental acts.
3. What happens if I have already shown my invention publicly?
A. India applies absolute novelty, so any prior publication or public use anywhere in the world, including by the inventor, destroys novelty. Section 31 provides only a narrow twelve-month exception, essentially for display at an exhibition notified by the Central Government and analogous situations. In most cases prior disclosure is fatal, so the assessment should be done urgently.
4. Can software be patented in India?
A. Only in limited circumstances. Section 3(k) excludes mathematical methods, business methods, algorithms and computer programmes per se. Where the claimed invention demonstrates a genuine technical effect or technical contribution beyond the programme as such, patentability may be arguable. Most conventional SaaS and application products do not clear this threshold.
5. Can I patent a method of medical treatment?
A. No. Section 3(i) excludes any process for the medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic treatment of humans or animals. Devices, apparatus and compositions used in treatment remain patentable; the method of treating a patient does not.
6. What is Section 3(d)?
A. It provides that the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance is not an invention, along with the mere discovery of a new property or new use for a known substance. It was considered by the Supreme Court in Novartis AG v. Union of India and is the principal limit on incremental pharmaceutical claiming in India.
7. What is the difference between a provisional and a complete specification?
A. A provisional specification describes the invention and secures a priority date without requiring claims, and is used where the invention is conceived but still under development. A complete specification fully and particularly describes the invention, discloses the best method of performing it and sets out the claims. The complete specification must be filed within twelve months of the provisional, failing which the application is deemed abandoned.
8. How long does a patent last?
A. Twenty years from the date of filing under Section 53, or from the international filing date in the case of a national phase application. The term cannot be extended, and renewal fees must be paid annually from the third year to keep the patent in force.
9. Is examination automatic after filing?
A. No. A request for examination must be filed on Form 18 within the prescribed period, failing which the application is treated as withdrawn. The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 reduced this period from forty-eight months to thirty-one months from the priority date, and the window applicable to your particular application should be confirmed.
10. When is my application published?
A. Under Section 11A, after eighteen months from the priority date or the filing date, whichever is earlier. Early publication can be requested on Form 9, which brings publication forward and allows examination to begin sooner. On publication you acquire like privileges and rights as if the patent had been granted, but infringement proceedings cannot be instituted until grant.
11. What is expedited examination and who can use it?
A. Expedited examination is requested on Form 18A at a higher official fee and substantially shortens the time to a First Examination Report. The eligible categories have been progressively widened and include startups, small entities, female applicants, government undertakings, educational institutions and applicants eligible under a Patent Prosecution Highway arrangement.
12. How long do I have to respond to the First Examination Report?
A. The application must be put in order for grant within six months from the date of the FER, extendable by a further three months on a request in Form 4 under Rule 24B. If it is not, the application is deemed abandoned. This is the most commonly missed deadline in Indian patent practice.
13. Can I file a patent application abroad directly?
A. Not if you are resident in India, unless you first obtain written permission from the Controller on Form 25, or you have filed an application for the same invention in India at least six weeks earlier with no secrecy direction in force. Contravention of Section 39 can lead to revocation under Section 64 and to imprisonment of up to two years or fine or both under Section 118.
14. What is Form 3 and why does it matter?
A. Form 3 is the statement and undertaking under Section 8 regarding corresponding applications filed outside India. Failure to comply, or furnishing false information, is a ground of pre-grant and post-grant opposition and a ground of revocation under Section 64(1)(m). The updating requirements were relaxed by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 and should be confirmed for each case.
15. What is the PCT route and when should I use it?
A. An international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty preserves the option to seek protection in many countries while deferring the cost of individual national filings. Entry into the Indian national phase is available within thirty-one months from the earliest priority date. It is useful where the markets are not yet decided; direct Convention filings within twelve months are often better where only one or two foreign markets matter.
16. What is a divisional application?
A. Under Section 16, where the claims of a complete specification relate to more than one invention, the applicant may file a further application in respect of an invention disclosed in the parent. The divisional retains the filing date of the parent, and it is commonly filed in response to a unity of invention objection.
17. What is a patent of addition?
A. Under Sections 54 to 56, a patent of addition covers an improvement or modification of an invention for which the applicant already has an application or a patent. Its term is co-extensive with that of the main patent, and no separate renewal fee is payable for it.
18. What is pre-grant opposition?
A. Under Section 25(1), after publication and before grant, any person may make a representation opposing the grant on Form 7A, on grounds including wrongful obtaining, prior publication, prior claiming, prior public use, obviousness, non-patentability under Section 3, insufficiency and non-compliance with Section 8. The 2024 Rules introduced procedural changes including a fee and a maintainability determination.
19. What is post-grant opposition?
A. Under Section 25(2), any person interested may oppose the patent within twelve months from the date of publication of the grant, on Form 7. Unlike pre-grant opposition, it is available only to a person interested, and the matter is referred to an Opposition Board which makes recommendations to the Controller.
20. What are renewal fees and when are they due?
A. Renewal fees are payable annually from the third year under Section 53(2), the fee for the third year falling due before expiry of the second year from the date of the patent. They may be paid in advance, and a six-month extension is available on Form 4. If they are not paid, the patent ceases, and restoration under Section 60 must be applied for within eighteen months of cessation.
21. What is Form 27 and do I have to file it?
A. Form 27 is the statement under Section 146 regarding the extent to which the patented invention has been worked in India, filed by the patentee and every licensee. The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 changed the frequency to once every three financial years, with the statement due within six months from the expiry of each period. Failure to furnish the information attracts consequences under Section 122.
22. What is a compulsory licence?
A. Under Section 84, after three years from the date of grant, any person interested may apply for a compulsory licence on grounds including that the reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the patented invention have not been satisfied, that it is not available to the public at a reasonably affordable price, or that it is not worked in the territory of India.
23. Who owns a patent for an invention made by my employee?
A. The inventor must be named, but ownership depends on the arrangement. The company should hold a written assignment of inventions, either in the employment agreement or by a separate deed, and a corresponding assignment from any consultant or collaborator. Naming the inventor and owning the patent are two distinct matters and both must be documented.
24. Should I file a patent or keep the invention as a trade secret?
A. A patent requires full public disclosure in return for a twenty-year monopoly; a trade secret lasts indefinitely but gives nothing against independent development or reverse engineering. If the invention can be reverse engineered from the product once it is on the market, patent it. If it cannot, and the process can genuinely be kept confidential, a trade secret may be the better commercial choice.
25. How much does a patent cost in India?
A. The government fee for a natural person, startup, small entity or educational institution is substantially lower than for other applicants, and additional fees apply for claims beyond ten and pages beyond thirty. The larger cost is professional — prior art searching, patentability opinion, specification and claim drafting, and prosecution through examination and hearings. Fees were revised by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 and should be confirmed before filing.
26. How long does it take to get a patent granted in India?
A. Commonly three to five years from filing on the ordinary route, and considerably less where early publication and expedited examination are used. The timeline depends heavily on when the request for examination is filed, the number and nature of objections in the First Examination Report, and whether the application is opposed.