{"id":1314,"date":"2011-01-24T12:54:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-24T07:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/1314"},"modified":"2026-06-09T08:54:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:24:59","slug":"request-for-examination-patent-application-india-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/request-for-examination-patent-application-india-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Request for Examination of a Patent Application \u2013 Mandatory Requirement in India"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Indian patent system, an application does not proceed to examination automatically. The applicant must file a request for examination before the patent office takes up the application. This differs from jurisdictions such as the United States, where the examination fee is paid at the time of filing. Under the Patents Act, 1970, an applicant in India has a defined window within which this request must be made.<\/p>\n

The deadline for filing<\/h2>\n

A request for examination must be filed within 48 months from the date of priority, the priority date being the date on which the invention was first filed. Only after the request is filed is the application taken up for examination. If the request is not filed within this period, the application is treated as withdrawn. Filing the request is therefore mandatory under the Patents Act, 1970.<\/p>\n

It is prudent to file the request at the time of filing the application. Where that is not done, the applicant should track the 48-month due date carefully, since the consequence of missing it is the loss of the application.<\/p>\n

Who may file the request<\/h2>\n

The request may be filed by the applicant, or by any other interested person. An interested person must furnish proper evidence of interest in the application to the patent office.<\/p>\n

National phase applications<\/h2>\n

For a national phase application filed in furtherance of a PCT international application, an express request for examination may be filed. This allows the application to be examined at any time before 31 months.<\/p>\n

Form 18 and the prescribed fee<\/h2>\n

A request for examination is filed on Form 18, which records the details of the applicant or interested person, the application number, the title, the date of filing, and the publication date. The prescribed fee is INR 2500 where the applicant is a natural person, and INR 10,000 where the applicant is a legal entity. Once the request is filed, the formal examination process is initiated under the Patents Act, 1970.<\/p>\n

For an express request for examination in a national phase application, the prescribed fee is INR 3500 for a natural person and INR 14,000 for a legal entity.<\/p>\n

Form 18 is available on the Indian Patent Office website: Form 18 (PDF)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer<\/h2>\n

This article is for general information and does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult a patent attorney before acting on any matter relating to patent prosecution in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Filing a request for examination is a mandatory requirement for patent applications in India. The request must be made within 48 months, using Form-18 and the prescribed fee, to initiate the formal examination process under the Indian Patent Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":76,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,14],"tags":[6789,6791,963,6490,609,324,5199],"class_list":["post-1314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intellectual-property","category-patents","tag-form-18","tag-national-phase-application","tag-patent-examination","tag-patent-filing-india","tag-patents-act-1970","tag-pct","tag-request-for-examination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149674,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314\/revisions\/149674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}