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Trademark & IP Services

Patent Filing & Advisory

Patent Filing

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Regulatory Framework

Patent protection and prosecution in India is governed by the Patents Act, 1970. Filing a patent application does not trigger automatic examination — under Section 11B of the Act, an applicant (or any interested person) must file a Request for Examination (RFE) within the prescribed period, failing which the application is treated as withdrawn by operation of law.

The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 (effective 15 March 2024) revised the RFE deadline prescribed under Rule 24B(1)(i) of the Patent Rules: for applications filed on or after the commencement of the 2024 amendment, the RFE must be filed within 31 months from the date of priority (where priority is claimed) or from the date of filing, whichever is earlier — a substantial compression from the pre-amendment 48-month window, which continues to apply only to applications filed before the 2024 amendment came into force.

This shortened timeline has significant implications for filing strategy: applicants must decide considerably earlier whether an invention warrants the cost of examination, since delay in filing the RFE can no longer be used as a low-cost option to defer that decision.

Our patent advisory service includes patentability and prior-art assessment, drafting and filing of applications, RFE timeline tracking across an applicant's portfolio, and responses to First Examination Reports issued by the Patent Office.

Overview

Patent advisory covers the protection of an invention under the Patents Act 1970 — the patentability assessment, the prior art search, the drafting and the filing of the patent application, the examination and the prosecution, the grant, and the maintenance. The patent is the exclusive right over the invention for the term of the Act, and the process runs under the Act and the Patents Rules 2003: the provisional or the complete specification, the filing with the Controller of Patents, the request for the examination, the responses to the examination reports, and the grant. The advisory is the work of turning an invention into a protected asset.

The patent is the strongest protection the law gives to an invention — the exclusive right to make, use and sell the invention for the patent term — and the process is a discipline of the filings and the deadlines. The invention must be new, involve the inventive step and be capable of industrial application under Section 2(1)(j) of the Act, the specification must be drafted to the claims that will survive the examination, and the applications must be filed before the disclosure that destroys the novelty.

The cost of a mishandled patent is the lost protection: the invention disclosed before the filing and the novelty gone, the claims drafted too narrowly and the protection useless, the deadlines missed and the application abandoned. The patent is the asset the business's innovation is worth; the process is where it is won or lost.

This service is for inventors and businesses with protectable inventions. We assess the patentability and conduct the prior art search, draft the provisional and the complete specifications with the claims, file the applications with the Controller under the Act, manage the examination and the prosecution — the responses, the hearings — obtain the grant, and manage the maintenance so the invention carries the protection it deserves.

How It Works

  1. 1

    Patentability & Prior Art

    We assess the patentability and conduct the prior art search.

    Harun Raaj & Associates does this1-2 weeks
  2. 2

    Specification Drafting

    We draft the specification and the claims under the Act.

    Harun Raaj & Associates does this2-4 weeks
  3. 3

    Application Filing

    We file the application with the Controller of Patents.

    Harun Raaj & Associates does this1 week
  4. 4

    Examination & Prosecution

    We manage the examination reports, the responses and the hearings.

    Harun Raaj & Associates does this6-24 months
  5. 5

    Grant & Maintenance

    We obtain the grant and manage the maintenance and the renewals.

    Harun Raaj & Associates does thisOngoing

Frequently Asked Questions

As a CA advising a startup, what is my role in patent filing and how does it differ from a patent attorney's role?
A Chartered Accountant's role in patent advisory is primarily on the financial and commercial side: patent valuation for balance sheet recognition under AS 26 / Ind AS 38 (Intangible Assets), transfer pricing documentation for royalty arrangements under Section 92C of the Income Tax Act 1961, and structuring the IP holding entity for tax efficiency. The technical filing of a patent application under Section 7 of the Patents Act 1970 — drafting claims, responding to examination reports, and representing before the Indian Patent Office — is the domain of a registered patent agent or patent attorney. A CA adds the most value at the intersection of IP and finance: ensuring the patent is capitalised at cost (R&D expenditure qualifying under Section 35(1) or Section 35(2AB) for weighted deduction), advising on licensing structures, and computing royalty income tax obligations under Section 115BBF.
Can our company claim a weighted tax deduction on R&D expenditure that leads to a patent application?
Under Section 35(2AB) of the Income Tax Act 1961, a company engaged in the business of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or any article notified by the CBDT can claim a weighted deduction of 150% on expenditure on scientific research (both revenue and capital) incurred on in-house R&D facilities approved by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). This benefit, which was restored by Finance Act 2023 at 150% (having been reduced to 100% from AY 2021-22 to AY 2024-25), requires the R&D facility to hold a valid DSIR certificate and the company to file Form 3CL certified by the prescribed authority. For AY 2026-27 and earlier under the Income Tax Act 1961, the deduction is available as above; under the Income Tax Act 2025 applicable from TY 2026-27, the position on weighted deductions should be verified against the enacted provisions. Revenue R&D expenditure of other companies not eligible for Section 35(2AB) can be deducted at 100% under Section 35(1)(i).
What is the concessional tax rate on royalty income earned by an Indian company from its patents?
Section 115BBF of the Income Tax Act 1961 provides a concessional tax rate of 10% (plus surcharge and cess) on royalty income earned by a patent holder that is a resident of India in respect of a patent developed and registered in India under the Patents Act 1970. To be eligible, at least 75% of the expenditure incurred in creating the patent must have been incurred in India by the eligible assessee, and the patent must be registered on or after April 1, 2003. The concessional rate applies only if the taxpayer exercises the option under Section 115BBF in their return of income; once exercised, no deduction of expenses is allowed against such royalty income. This regime, commonly referred to as the Patent Box regime, is designed to incentivise domestic R&D monetisation and aligns India with OECD-compliant IP regimes.
How should a startup value its patent for balance sheet purposes and what accounting standard applies?
Patents are intangible assets and must be recognised and measured under Ind AS 38 (Intangible Assets) for companies required to follow Indian Accounting Standards, or AS 26 (Intangible Assets) for companies following Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules 2006. Under both standards, a self-generated patent is recognised at cost — comprising all directly attributable expenditure from the point the development phase criteria are met (technical feasibility, intention to complete, ability to use or sell, availability of resources, expected future economic benefits). Internally generated goodwill, brands, and publishing titles cannot be capitalised, but patents resulting from a successful development project can be. Under Ind AS 38, the patent is subsequently measured at cost less accumulated amortisation and impairment losses; the useful life must not exceed its legal life under the Patents Act 1970 (20 years from the filing date under Section 53). For transfer pricing purposes, a patent held by an Indian entity and licensed to a related overseas entity must be valued using the Comparable Uncontrolled Price or the Profit Split method under Rule 10B of the Income Tax Rules 1962.
If we assign our patent to an overseas subsidiary, what are the Indian transfer pricing and FEMA implications?
Transfer of a patent from an Indian company to its overseas subsidiary is an international transaction under Section 92B of the Income Tax Act 1961, and the consideration must be determined at arm's length price (ALP) under Section 92C using one of the prescribed methods in Rule 10B of the Income Tax Rules 1962 — typically the Transactional Net Margin Method or the Comparable Uncontrolled Price method for IP transfers. The taxpayer must maintain contemporaneous transfer pricing documentation under Section 92D and file Form 3CEB (Transfer Pricing Accountant's Report) for transactions exceeding ₹1 crore in a financial year. From the FEMA side, a transfer of a patent (an intangible asset) to a foreign entity constitutes an ODI and must be valued by a SEBI-registered merchant banker or practicing CA under the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules 2019; the proceeds must be repatriated within the time prescribed by the AD bank. Undervaluing the patent to shift profits out of India can attract both transfer pricing adjustments under Section 92 and penalty under Section 271AA.

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