What a patent is
A patent is a time-limited right to stop others from making, using, selling or importing your invention in India without your consent, in return for describing the invention fully to the public.
The Patents Act, 1970 defines an invention as "a new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application".[4] An inventive step is a feature that involves technical advance over existing knowledge, or economic significance, or both, and that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art.[4]
New
Not already published, or used in India or anywhere else in the world, before the filing date.[4]
Inventive
A technical advance, or economic significance, that would not be obvious to a skilled person.[4]
Industrially useful
It has to be something that can be made or used in an industry, not just an idea.[4]
For a product patent: making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the product in India. For a process patent: using the process, and using, selling or importing the product made directly by it. Section 48 gives the patentee the exclusive right to prevent third parties from doing these things without consent.[7]
The legal framework
India protects inventions through the Patents Act, 1970 and the Patents Rules, administered by the Indian Patent Office under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. The table lists the provisions most readers need.
| Provision | What it says |
|---|---|
| s.2(1)(j), (ja) | Defines "invention" and "inventive step".[4] |
| s.3 and 4 | List what is not an invention, such as mere discoveries, methods of agriculture, computer programmes per se and traditional knowledge. See the next section.[3] |
| s.11A | Applications are published, but the Act leaves the period to the Rules. Applicants may ask for early publication. From publication to grant the applicant has the privileges of a patentee, but cannot sue for infringement until the patent is granted.[6] |
| s.25 | Opposition: pre-grant by any person after publication and before grant; post-grant by any interested person within one year of publication of the grant. Listed grounds only.[5] |
| s.48 | Exclusive rights of the patentee for product and process patents.[7] |
| s.53 | Term of twenty years from the date of filing. The patent ceases if renewal fees are not paid, and once it lapses or expires the subject matter is not protected.[2] |
| s.84 | Compulsory licence: after three years from grant, a person with a legitimate interest may apply on the grounds that public needs are not met, the price is not affordable, or the invention is not worked in India.[8] |
What cannot be patented
Section 3 is the part of the Act that most often decides whether an application survives. Some of its clauses, in summary:[3]
| Clause | What is excluded |
|---|---|
| 3(c) | Mere discoveries of scientific principles, abstract theories, or naturally occurring living things or substances. |
| 3(d) | The mere discovery of a new form of a known substance that does not enhance the known efficacy, or of a new property or new use of a known substance; mere use of a known process unless it results in a new product or uses at least one new reactant. |
| 3(e) | A substance obtained by mere admixture that only aggregates the properties of its components. |
| 3(h) | Methods of agriculture or horticulture. |
| 3(i) | Medical, surgical, curative, prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic treatment of humans, and similar treatment of animals. |
| 3(j) | Plants and animals in whole or part, including seeds, varieties and species, and essentially biological processes (microorganisms are outside this exclusion). |
| 3(k) | "A mathematical or business method or a computer programme per se or algorithms." |
| 3(p) | Inventions that are essentially traditional knowledge, or mere aggregation or duplication of known properties of traditional components. |
The Court refused a patent on the beta-crystalline form of imatinib mesylate (Glivec). It read section 3(d) as requiring a new form of a known substance to show a significant improvement in therapeutic efficacy. Better flow, stability or lower hygroscopicity did not count, and the claimed bioavailability gain was not backed by data.[10]
Clause 3(k) bars a computer programme "per se". It does not bar every invention that uses software, but an application that is only an algorithm or a business method will be refused. Code itself is protected by copyright instead.[3]
How a patent is obtained
Applications go to the Patent Office on the prescribed forms. The stages below follow the Act and the 2024 amendment to the Rules; fees depend on the type of applicant, so check the official fee schedule.
- Search and draftCheck what already exists, then write a specification with claims that describe the invention clearly enough for a skilled person to perform it.Do not disclose it publicly first
- FileThe filing date starts the twenty-year term.[2]Term runs from filing
- PublicationThe application is published; the period is set by the Rules, and early publication can be requested.[6]Pre-grant opposition opens
- Request for examinationSince the 2024 Rules, the deadline is 31 months from the earlier of the priority or filing date for new filings; older applications keep 48 months.[9]Second-hand summary
- Examination and replyThe Controller issues an examination report. The applicant answers the objections and may be heard.Extensions up to six months under Rule 138
- Grant and afterOnce granted, the patent is published. Anyone interested may file a post-grant opposition within one year of that publication.[5] Renewal fees must be paid or the patent lapses.[2]Working statement every 3 years
The 2024 Rules added Rule 29A and Form 31 to set out how to claim the 12-month grace period in section 31 of the Act.[9] Treat that as a safety net rather than a plan: file before you disclose.
Opposition, licensing and working
A granted patent can be challenged, and it comes with duties.
Grounds of opposition
Wrongful obtaining, prior publication, prior claiming, prior public knowledge or use in India, obviousness, not an invention or not patentable under the Act, insufficient description, non-disclosure of foreign filing information, filing a convention application late, failure to disclose the source of biological material, and anticipation by traditional knowledge.[5]
Fees to oppose
Under the 2024 Rules, a pre-grant opposition carries an official fee of INR 20,000 for large entities and INR 4,000 for others. Post-grant opposition is INR 40,000 and INR 10,000.[9]
Working the patent
Patentees report whether the patent is worked once every three years (Form 27), rather than every year. The form no longer asks for revenue figures.[9]
The numbers
The Indian Patent Office’s own annual report for 2024-25 gives these figures.[1]
Patent filings and grants
Number of applications or patents. Source: IP India Annual Report 2024-25.
Filings rose about 19.75% to 110,375, and Indian applicants made up 61.79% of them. Grants fell from 103,057 to 33,504. The report notes that pendency rose at the first examination stage; I did not find an explanation for the fall in grants in the parts I read. The report gives two slightly different disposal totals (40,606 and 40,826), so I have not quoted one.[1]
Penalties and recent change
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026 trimmed some patent offences. As summarised by a law firm, section 119 (falsifying entries in the Register of Patents) was omitted, and section 118 (breach of the foreign-filing rule in section 39) no longer attracts the punishment where the Central Government finds the invention was not relevant to defence or atomic energy at the time. The changes took effect on 1 June 2026.[11]
What this page does not cover
- Fees for filing, examination and grant, which vary by applicant category. See Schedule I of the Patents Rules.
- International routes such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty, beyond the note that the twenty-year term applies to PCT applications measured from the international filing date.[2]
- Utility models: I did not research whether India has them, and make no claim either way.
- The publication period under section 11A is set by the Rules and I did not look it up.
References
Links are pages I opened while building this page. Where a source is a law-firm or explainer article rather than the Act itself, it is labelled secondary.
- IP India Annual Report 2024-25. ipindia.gov.in. Chapter III (patents).
- Patents Act, 1970, section 53 (term of patent). ipindia.gov.in.
- Patents Act, 1970, section 3 (what are not inventions). ipindia.gov.in.
- Patents Act, 1970, section 2 (definitions). ipindia.gov.in. Clauses (j), (ja), (l).
- Patents Act, 1970, section 25 (opposition). ipindia.gov.in. The section lists grounds (a) to (k).
- Patents Act, 1970, section 11A (publication of applications). ipindia.gov.in.
- Patents Act, 1970, section 48 (rights of patentees). ipindia.gov.in.
- Patents Act, 1970, section 84 (compulsory licences). ipindia.gov.in.
- Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024: key changes. Mondaq. secondary
- Novartis v. Union of India, Supreme Court, 1 April 2013. Summary at Nishith Desai Associates. secondary I did not open the judgment itself.
- Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026, patent and copyright offences. Conventus Law. secondary Check the Gazette text.