Accelerated Examination Procedure in Patent Applications in India

Pursuant to Rule 24C of the Patent Rules as amended in 2016, an applicant may, within the period prescribed in Rule 24B, submit a Form 18A electronically and pay the corresponding fee to request an expedited examination based on any of the following grounds:

• The Indian Patent Office acts as an ISA/IPEA for PCT national phase patent applications
• Patent applications where the applicant is a start-up company
• Patent applications where the applicant is a small entity
• If the applicant is a natural person or a joint applicant, all applicants are natural persons and the applicant or at least one applicant is a female
• Patent applications where the applicant is a government department
• The applicant is a government-owned or controlled institution established under central, provincial or state law
• The applicant is a government company as defined in section 2, rule 45 of the Companies Act, 2013 (No. 18 of 2013)
• The applicant is an institution that is fully or substantially funded by the government
• The industry involved in the application has been approved by the Central Government as per the notification of the Head of the Central Department
• The applicant is eligible to request for accelerated examination of the patent application under an agreement between the Indian Patent Office and a foreign patent office
• Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH): Japanese patent applications only