10. time to get a patent in India

10. Time to get a patent in India

time required for patent in India

How much time will it take for my invention to get a patent in India?

This is the most common question that we receive from an inventor who trying to understand the amount of time they need to wait to get their invention patented.

there are two ways to answer this question

  1. the time to get your patent filed and
  2. time to get the patent granted

Patent pending status after filing patent application:

when you file patent application in patent office; You can write “patent pending”  or “patent applied” and mention the patent application number in front of your technology as soon as you file the patent application in the patent office. You can use patent-pending or patent-applied status for both provisional or complete patent application.

it serves many purposes like :

  • This gives an immediate impression of superior product or technology in minds of the reader
  • establishing you / your firm as expert in the industry in minds of your customers since you have applied for patent
  • employees, clients, banks and even investors consider you or your firm with different weightage when they see patent application number
  • writing “patent pending” on product / packaging or on website would be a message to competitors who would rethink about copying your invention. Seeing the patent-pending or patent applied status, many of the competitors would be discouraged anticipating they would not be able to compete in the same domain if you own a granted patent
  • and most important of all, once you file patent in patent office, you are free from the fear of others copying your idea or invention, since you have secured the priority date or the first filing date in the patent office

You can do almost all activities like, marketing your invention, producing and commercially selling your invention or doing tie-ups etc. the only thing for which you need to wait for the grant of patent is when you want to stop others from infringing over your patent or file a case against patent infringers. You may also read our section on documents required for filing patent

Having said this, there is no legal significance to these words. The infringement suit can be initiated only after the patent is granted.

There are recent updates in patent rules that is Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2021; which now has new advantages like:

  • 80% Reduction in the fees for patent filing and prosecution for educational institutions
  • Faster grant of patent applications by expedited route (faster examination and grant) reducing the time required for grant of patent from 3-4 years to 1-1.5 years.
  • The fastest patent was granted in 41 days after filing request for expedited examination.
  • Expansion of expedited (faster) examination of patents: now includes categories like Women applicant or co-applicant, Educational institutes, Startups, SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), Government Departments, Institutions established by a Central, Government Company, etc.

Hence, applying for patent and getting patent grant has become even faster and economic for many situations and cases

The time required to File patent application (patent pending)

Now, we assume that the details about your invention are ready with you and you prepared a comprehensive invention disclosure to discuss with the patent attorney.

from the day you start the project for patent drafting (writing), it takes about 10 to 15 days for the patent attorney or agent to work on your invention and create the final version of the patent draft, which would be sent to you for approval and suggesting improvements if any. (time taken by you to review and respond to the final version of draft adds to the total time required)

generally, the patent application is filed in the government patent office within 2 weeks from the start of the project and a receipt is generated from the patent office about the confirmation of filing of the patent application for your invention.

After filing the patent application, that is receiving patent pending or patent applied status and patent application number; you can do most of the things like

  • disclosing the patented invention without fear of losing its confidentiality (since the patent is already filed and we secured the priority date already)
  • testing the commercial worth of invention
  • demonstrating invention to other businesses or parties
  • selling invention in the market
  • presenting information in seminars or conferences
  • talking to investors or bankers for funding etc.

However, although patent pending or patent filed status has all these benefits,  you can not stop others until you have granted a patent in India (or the respective country of your interest).

The time required for grant of patent in India

time required for patent in India

The time required for grant of patent in India

in this section we will see the second part of the question: “Time required for getting granted patent in India”

Although there are many advantages of a patent filed or patent-pending status, you sometimes need to wait for grant of patent for doing some specific activity like stopping others from using your invention or to file a lawsuit for infringement or file a case against the infringing party.

in general, there are 2 timelines to consider for the grant of patent.

  • time for grant of patent by Normal route
  • time for grant of patent by Expedited (Faster ) route

Short Answer :

  • the time required for getting granted patent by normal route is more than 2 to 3 years and
  • the time required for getting granted patent by Expedited (Faster ) route is within 1 to 1.5 years

The grant of a patent takes more than 2 or 3 Years by the normal route and within 1 or 1.5 years by the expedited route. but you don’t need to wait for a grant of patent to do almost 95% of the things you wanted to do with your invention

The time required for grant of patent by Normal route 

Note: these are approximate timelines and may change from case to case basis.

  • Novelty search: it is an optional step and the time required for completing this search report is 8 to 10 days.
  • Patent drafting (writing): the time required to draft a patent application is about 2 weeks that is 12 to 15 days.
  • Filing patent application: the time required to file a patent application upon review and approval from you (applicant) is about 1 day.
  • Publication of application: patent application is published after the expiry of 18 months from the date of filing. However, you can do an early publication request and it would be published within 1 month.
  • Request for Examination: we need to file a request for examination RFE within 48 months from the filing of the patent application. sooner we file RFE the better as our application would be up in the queue of applications to be examined.
  • Examination of Application and First examination report FER: it may require more than 1 year for your application to get examined and generate the First examination report which has objections
  • Response to FER or Objection: You need to reply within 6 months to FER but the sooner you respond with a reply the better as it shortens the time required for the grant. in some cases, there may be a need for more than one communication with the government patent office as a response to objections and sometimes even hearing is required. this further adds up the time required for the grant of patent.
  • Grant of patent: it takes more than 2 to 3 years time for grant of patent via the Normal route and this time significantly varies from case to case, number of objections received and proactiveness of the applicant (you) in taking necessary steps as soon as possible

The time required for grant of a patent by Expedited (Faster) route

Note: these are approximate timelines and may change from case to case basis.

  • Novelty search: it is an optional step and the time required for completing this search report is 8 to 10 days.
  • Patent drafting (writing): the time required to draft a patent application is about 2 weeks that is 12 to 15 days.
  • Filing patent application: the time required to file a patent application upon review and approval from you (applicant) is about 1 day.
  • Publication of application: patent application is published after the expiry of 18 months from the date of filing. However, you can do an early publication request and it would be published within 1 month.
  • Request for expedited Examination: we may choose to file a request for expedited examination for patent application.
  • Examination of Application and First examination report FER: since expedited examination has shorter timelines for all steps in between we can expect the First examination report within 6 months
  • Response to FER or Objection: You may choose to respond to FER as soon as possible as it shortens the time required for the grant. in some cases, there may be a need for more than one communication with the government patent office as a response to objections and sometimes even a hearing is required. this further adds up the time required for the grant of patent.
  • Grant of patent: we can expect the patent to be granted within 1 to 1.5 years via expedited route and this time significantly varies from case to case, number of objections received and proactiveness of the applicant (you) in taking necessary steps as soon as possible

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Contact: +91 8055563001            My Patent Requirement             contact@patentinindia.com

Prasad Karhad
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