Intellectual property

Patents

A patent in India is earned twice: once at the Patent Office, and again whenever it is challenged.

Patentability and freedom-to-operate opinions, drafting and prosecution, oppositions, working statements and patent litigation, including software and AI inventions.

An invention is patentable in India if it is new, involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application, and if it does not fall within the exclusions in section 3. Two exclusions shape most of our advice. Section 3(d) bars new forms of known substances unless they show enhanced efficacy, which is why pharmaceutical claims are drafted so carefully in India. Section 3(k) bars mathematical and business methods and computer programmes “per se”, which is why software claims must show a technical effect (see the 2025 CRI Guidelines).

Timelines that matter

Request for examination: within 31 months of the priority date (shortened from 48 months by the 2024 amendment to the Rules).
Reply to the first examination report: within six months, extendable by three months on request.
PCT national phase: 31 months from the priority date.
Opposition: any person may file a pre-grant opposition while the application is pending. An interested person may file a post-grant opposition within one year of the grant being published.
Working statements (Form 27): once for every period of three financial years, within six months of the end of that period (see our note on the new regime).

Inventors in India, applications abroad

If any inventor is resident in India, section 39 requires either filing in India first and waiting six weeks, or obtaining foreign filing permission from the Patent Office before filing abroad. Breaching it can cost the Indian patent and is an offence. Startups, small entities and educational institutions qualify for reduced fees and can request expedited examination.

How we help

Patentability, validity and freedom-to-operate opinions
Drafting provisional and complete specifications
PCT national phase and Paris Convention filings
Prosecution, hearings and divisional strategy
Pre-grant and post-grant oppositions, revocations
Form 27, Form 3 (section 8) and section 39 compliance
Infringement actions, including standard essential patents
Assignments and licences, and their recordal

Key laws

Patents Act, 1970
Patents Rules, 2003 (as amended in 2024)
Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions, 2025
Patent Cooperation Treaty

Frequently asked questions

Can software be patented in India?

Not as “a computer programme per se”, which section 3(k) excludes. But an invention implemented in software can be patented when it produces a technical effect or solves a technical problem, for example by improving how a device, network or system works. The Patent Office’s guidelines on computer-related inventions, revised in 2025, set out how examiners apply that test, and the Delhi High Court has read the exclusion narrowly since Ferid Allani v. Union of India (2019).

What is Form 27 and when must it be filed?

Form 27 is the statement of how a patented invention has been worked in India. Since the 2024 amendment to the Patents Rules it is filed once for every period of three financial years, within six months of the end of that period, rather than every year. Failing to file it can attract a penalty under section 122 of the Patents Act.

Do I need permission before filing a patent application abroad?

Yes, if at least one inventor is resident in India. Section 39 requires you either to file in India first and wait six weeks (provided no secrecy direction is issued), or to obtain foreign filing permission from the Patent Office before filing anywhere else.