🇮🇳 South Asia

India IP Filing Guide

India is one of the world's most active patent and trademark jurisdictions. With four Patent Offices and a modernised IP system, India offers robust protection for innovations under the Patents Act 1970 (as amended), the Trade Marks Act 1999, the Designs Act 2000, and the Copyright Act 1957.

Paris Convention PCT Member Madrid Protocol

Filing Requirements

  • Name, address, status and nationality of applicant(s) and inventor(s)
  • Provisional or complete specification (description, claims, abstract, drawings)
  • Power of Authority in favour of Indian Patent Attorney (to be stamped in India)
  • Declaration as to inventorship within 1 month of filing
  • Proof of right from inventor within 6 months of filing
  • For conventional: DAS code or certified copy of priority document within 3 months
  • PCT National Phase: file within 31 months from priority date

Prosecution Steps

  1. Filing of patent application
  2. Publication after 18 months (or on request)
  3. Request for Examination within 31 months from filing/priority date
  4. First Examination Report issued — 6 months to respond (3 months extension)
  5. Hearing with Controller if requested
  6. Grant of Letter Patent
  7. Annuities payable — 10% discount if paid 4+ years in advance
20
Year patent term
from filing date

Expedited examination available for startups, small entities, female inventors, Govt departments, and PPH-eligible applications.

Filing Requirements

  • Name, address, status and nationality of applicant(s)
  • Clear trademark image (for logos/device marks)
  • International class and goods/services description
  • Date of first use in India (if applicable)
  • Power of Attorney (no notarisation required)
  • For conventional: certified priority copy within 2 months

Registration Process

  1. Filing of application at Trade Marks Registry
  2. Examination — objections issued if applicable
  3. Reply to examination report
  4. Hearing (if Registrar not satisfied)
  5. Acceptance and publication in Trade Marks Journal
  6. Opposition period: 4 months from publication
  7. Certificate of Registration issued
10
Year registration
Renewable every 10 years

Key Features

  • Design must be novel, original and not disclosed prior to filing
  • Protects aesthetic aspects — not functional features
  • Paris Convention priority claim available within 6 months
  • India is a member of the Locarno Classification system
15
Year design term
10 years + 5 year extension

Key Facts

Patent Office 4 Offices — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata
PCT Member Yes — national phase within 31 months
Madrid Protocol Yes — trademark via Madrid system
Patent Term 20 years from filing date
TM Term 10 years (renewable every 10 years)
Design Term 15 years (10 + 5 year extension)
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All filings handled in-house by qualified patent and trademark agents

Trademarks · Specialised Filings

Certification, Series & Textile Marks

Beyond conventional word and device marks, Indian law offers specialised routes to protect standards, brand families and textile goods — each under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Trade Marks Rules, 2017.

Certification Marks

A certification mark does not tell buyers who made a product — it guarantees the goods or services meet a defined standard of quality, origin, material or method of manufacture. Familiar examples include ISI, AGMARK and Woolmark. In India they are governed by Chapter IX (Sections 69–78) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, and defined in Section 2(1)(e).

The requirements differ from an ordinary trademark. Under Section 70 the proprietor must not trade in the goods it certifies, must prove competence to certify, and must file draft regulations of use (Sections 71 & 74) on Form TM-A with Form TM-M.

  • Certifies quality or origin — not trade source
  • Proprietor cannot trade in the certified goods (s. 70)
  • Draft regulations of use required (ss. 71 & 74)
  • Aswal drafts regulations, files & enforces the mark

Series Marks

A series mark lets a business that owns several closely related versions of one brand protect them together in a single registration — instead of filing, and paying for, each separately. Think of a core brand used with different flavour names, pack sizes or colour variants. This is provided for under Section 15(3) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

To qualify, the marks must resemble each other in material particulars and differ only in non-distinctive respects — the goods/services statement; number, price, quality or place names; other non-distinctive matter; or colour. Filed as one application on Form TM-A, they are treated as associated marks under Section 15(4).

  • One application, one fee for multiple variants
  • Marks must match in material particulars (s. 15(3))
  • May differ only in non-distinctive matter or colour
  • We assess eligibility & structure efficient filings

Textile Marks

Textile brands — spanning fabrics, yarns, apparel and home furnishings — have distinctive branding needs, from woven labels to marks on piece goods. The Act formerly carried special provisions for textile goods under Chapter X (Sections 79–82); these were omitted by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, with effect from 1 August 2024.

Textile marks are now protected as ordinary trademarks under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and Rules, 2017, filed in the relevant NICE classes — Class 22 (raw fibres), 23 (yarns & threads), 24 (textiles & linen), 25 (clothing & footwear), 26 (haberdashery) and 27 (carpets). Correct classification is decisive.

  • Protected as regular marks (TM Rules, 2017)
  • Correct NICE class is critical (Classes 22–27)
  • Former Chapter X (ss. 79–82) now omitted (2024)
  • Clearance & anti-counterfeiting for fabric & apparel
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