Good News for Startups! Indian Government Reduces the Time Period for Grant of Patents


BENGALURU: In this world of digitalization, startups are budding at a rapid pace all around the world. They have got another boost as the Indian Government as part of the ‘Startup Action Plan’ have introduced cheaper and faster patent registration under a ‘Tatkal’ option. The benefits offered as part of the new rules will also be available to those startups, who file their first application in India.  

As part of the amended patent rules, the Government has put in place expedited services for patent registration as well as included the definition of ‘startup’ so that they can avail special benefits. The Government also plans to bring down the patent registration process time to two and a half years by this year end and bring it down further to one and a half years by March 2018 from the existing 5-7 years process.

In a bid to cut down patent fees, startups have been qualified as ‘individual persons’ rather than ‘companies’ in the amended rules. This will make startups eligible for 80 percent rebate. For the ‘Tatkal’ patent registration, companies will need to pay three times of the fees as compared to the current scheme where startups will have to pay double the normal fees . The application fees under regular processing may vary between 1,600-8,800 INR, while under tatkal option, startups are required to pay 8,000 INR as compared to 60,000 INR for big companies.

Among other amended rules, the Government has included the provision of reimbursing 90 percent of the amount if a new patent registration application is withdrawn. Also, the withdrawal of patent application filed earlier can be carried out without any fees and there is provision of refunding the amount deposited in some specific cases.  If any payment made twice due to errors in online transactions would also be refunded.  Apart from that, the updated rules enables applicants to fast-track their applications if they apply in India first.

Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion has stated that the government has also looked at the pending patent applications. Currently, it is disclosed that 237 patent applications are pending and more than 2 Lakhs are at the examination level.

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