Indian Patent Registration Procedure: From Filing to Grant

The fundamental step in the procedure of obtaining a patent is patent prosecution. Successful prosecution is essential to guaranteeing the protection of patent rights since it provides crucial legal guidance on the invention’s patentability.

In India, filing for a patent requires more than just connecting with the Indian Patent Office (IPO); it also requires placing an idea to the test in terms of its technical and legal validity.

An application must be filed in the first stage before the Patent Office publish it. Following this, the application goes through prosecution, which entails examination by the Patent Office.

Patent Examination Process

Examinations are conducted in the order of the request for examination (RFE) filing dates. From the RFE date, the typical grant time is 12 to 36 months. A First Examination Report is released. A hearing notice is also given out. Rarely is a second or subsequent examination report published.

Depending on the underlying idea, the prosecution of a patent application is known to be drawn out and can take a significant period of time. However, under some circumstances, the examination of a patent application in India may be ramped up.

Anytime during the first 48 months following the date of filing—or the date of priority, whichever is earlier—a request for accelerated examination may be submitted. However, not all applicants will be eligible for this option. Only a few petitions for accelerated examination are accepted by the IPO each year. At the beginning of each calendar year, the general public is informed of this figure. No more requests for expedited examination will be accepted after this time limit. As a result, a request for an accelerated examination must be made as soon as possible, ideally at the beginning of the calendar year.

The applicant is well within their rights to change a regular examination request into an accelerated examination request whenever the requirements for an expedited examination (described below) are satisfied. This can be accomplished by submitting a request in the required format and paying the additional fees.

If the following requirements are met, you can request an accelerated examination:

1. The applicant must be one of the following:

• a start-up;
• a small entity;
• female applicant;
• in the case of joint applicants, all the applicants are natural persons, and at least one of those applicants is a female;
• a department of the Government;
• an institution established by a Central, Provincial or State Act, which is owned or controlled by the Government;
• a Government company;
• an institution wholly or substantially financed by the Government;

2. The application pertains to a sector that has been notified by the Central Government.
3. In the case of a National Phase application, India is chosen as the competent ‘International Searching Authority or elected as an ‘International Preliminary Examining Authority in the corresponding PCT application.
4. The applicant is eligible under an arrangement for processing a patent application pursuant to an agreement between the IPO and a foreign Patent Office.

Therefore, if any one of the aforementioned requirements is met, a request for an accelerated examination may be approved. Additionally, in the event that the application has not yet been published, a request for early publication must be submitted.

The grant of a patent application may be accelerated by the actions listed below:

1. Filing a request for an early publication of the application (as an application is taken up for examination only after it has been published).
2. Filing a request for examination along with the application itself.
3. In the case of a National Phase application, filing an express request for examination before the expiry of 31 months period from the priority date. Note that an express request for examination can be filed to initiate the examination of a National Phase application before the expiry of a 31-month period.
4. Filing a request for expedited examination, if the patent applicant qualifies.
5. Filing a response to the First Examination Report at the earliest.
6. Filing all the necessary formal documents at the earliest.

Programs called Patent Prosecution Highways (PPH) are designed to expedite the patent application process. This is accomplished by a system of information exchange across offices, or perhaps even nations. In the form of a bilateral agreement with the Japanese Patent Office, India has a PPH pilot program (JPO). The three-year trial period for this pilot program started in November 2019.

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– You could see Procedure of Trademark in India here.

– You could visit here to see Required documents of filing trademark in India.

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