How much does it cost to get a patent in India?
FollowHow much does it cost to get a patent in India?
Understanding the cost structure corresponding to applying for a patent can help in making some important decisions. Hence, instead of having a generic idea about the overall cost, it helps if you are aware of the breakdown of the cost structure and the time of incurring such expenses.
The overall cost of obtaining a patent includes the fee that has to be paid to the patent office (statutory fee) and the fee paid to the patent service provider (professional fee). The professional fee varies based on the service provider you may select. Hence, in this article I will deal only with the statutory fee.
Please note that, the most important factor in filing a patent application is preparing a patent specification. Drafting a patent specification is a highly skilled job, which can be only performed by persons who have both technical as well as patent law expertise. If a person or company is serious about protecting their intellectual property, it is highly recommeded to use the services of professional patent practitioners. To know more about this, you can read our articles on this.
- Should an inventor take professional help to draft and file patent applications?
- Why should patent specifications be drafted by patent professionals?
The statutory fee depends on who the applicant of the patent is. The Indian Patent Office (IPO) has categorized the applicants into 4 categories:
- Natural person
- Startup(s)
- Other than natural person – Small Entity
- Other than natural person – Others except small Entity
Any individual(s) applying for a patent is considered as a natural person. On the other hand, all other entities that do not fall under the first category, fall under the remaining three categories of :
- Other than natural person – Startup
- Other than natural person – Small Entity
- Other than natural person – Others except small Entity
For example, legal entities, such as, companies would fall under these categories. It shall be noted that, a patent application can have more than one applicant, and even if one of the applicants do not fall under the first category, then the patent application is considered to be filed by applicants of the remaining two categories.
Applicants who are other than natural person are categorized into the below three categories.
- Other than natural person – Startup
- Other than natural person – Small Entity
- Other than natural person – Others except small Entity
The patent office charges the least fee for applicants who are natural persons and Startups.
The patent office also charges the least fee for entities who are startups. Certain conditions have to be met to qualify as startups. You can read more about this in our article.
The patent office charges other than natural person applicants who are a small entity, a fee, which is between a natural person/startup and others except small Entity.The patent office charges a maximum fee for other than natural person applicants who are Others except small Entity/startup.The patent office collects 2 times the fee from the applicants who are "Other than natural person – Others except small Entity" as compared to applicants who are "Other than natural person – Small Entity". Certain conditions have to be met by other than natural person applicants, who wish to claim "Small Entity" status. You can read more about this in our article.
In this article, we will list down the fee applicable to all the categories of applicants. Please note that, the fee mentioned below is for E-filing of applications only. The patent office charges an additonal fee of 10% of the total fee, if filing is done through hardcopies. If the application is not filed online, and is done through hardcopies, you need to calculate the fee, at additional fee of 10% of the total fee.
| No | Description | Patent office Fee (INR) 1$ = ~ 60 INR(E-Filing only) | Comments | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other than Natural person | Natural Person/Startup | ||||
| Small Entity | Other than small entity | ||||
| 1 | Application for grant of patent | 4000 | 8000 | 1600 | Mandatory |
| 2 | Early publication fee | 6250 | 12500 | 2500 | Optional |
| 3 | Request for examination of patent application | 10000 | 20000 | 4000 | Mandatory |
| 4 | For every Extra sheet over 30 sheets | 400/sheet | 800/sheet | 160/sheet | Mandatory |
| 5 | For every Extra claim over 10 claims | 800/claim | 1600/claim | 320/claim | Mandatory |
Sl. No. 1
A fee of INR 1600/4000/8000 has to be paid while submitting the patent application in the IPO, based on the type of applicant.
Sl. No. 2
A fee of INR 2500/6250/12500 has to be paid, based on the type of applicant, if you wish to have your patent application published by the IPO early. If this request is not made, then the IPO publishes your patent application after 18 months from priority date (date on which you first file a patent application for your invention). There are several advantages of having a patent application published early. Some of the advantages are: early publication can help in expediting the patent application examination process and the patent rights start from the date of publication.
Sl. No. 3
A fee of INR 4000/10000/20000 has to be paid, based on the type of applicant, requesting the IPO to examine your patent application. This request for examination can be filed and the fee paid within 48 months from the priority date. However, note that the patent office puts your application in queue for examination only after receiving this fee. Hence, if you want to expedite the patent process, it is advisable to file this request at the earliest. A startup can also request for expedited examination of their patent application. The fee for this is INR 8000. At present, the patent office has limited this request to about 1000 request in a year.
Sl. No. 4
The IPO accepts patent specification, which has up to 30 sheets without charging any extra fee. However, if the specification crosses 30 sheets, then a fee of INR 160/400/800/sheet for each extra sheet has to be paid to the IPO, based on the type of applicant.
Sl. No. 5
Further, the IPO accepts patent specification, which has up to 10 claims (no limitation on independent claims) without charging any extra fee. However, if the specification has more than 10 claims, then a fee of INR 320/800/1600/Claim for each extra claim has to be paid to the IPO, based on the type of applicant.
You may also calculate the patent office fee using our cost calculator below: All fee in USD.
You may also read our below listed articles to gain more knowledge about the Indian Patenting system:
- What are the different patent filing options?
- Indian Patenting Process Timeline
- Patent Application Filing Procedure/Process in India
- At Which Stage Should I Apply for a Patent?
- Should I apply for a patent before publishing my invention?
I hope you found this article helpful. Please feel free to contact us to know more about how our patent services can help you in your business.
Thank you,
Team InvnTree
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License
ITS GOOD TO GET THE PATENT POLICES
Hello,
thanks for the valuable information. I am new in this area and want to file some product. I do not have much Idea about filing the patent. can you please explain “Sl-No-5” once again, with example.
+ is there any other fee apart of this.
Thanks a lot…!!
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please give me address and phone number of patent office in raipur chhattishgarh
Hello,
Please note that, there is no patent office in Raipur Chhattisgarh. However, Chhattisgarh falls under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai patent office. The contact details of the Mumbai patent office is provided below:
Intellectual Property Office, Boudhik Sampada Bhawan, Antop Hill, S. M. Road, MumbaiI – 400 037. Phone: 24101144, 24148165
Regards,
Team InvnTree
Is there a renewal/annuity/maintenance fee during the pendency of the application? Can you please elaborate on the renewal fees?
Thanks
Jayanthi
Hi,
The renewal fee is pending from the 3rd year of filing the application. This pending renewal fee has to be paid only upon grant. Upon grant, renewal fee from the 3rd year till the year of grant has to be paid.
Best regards,
Team InvnTree
Hello,please give the adress and contact number of patent office in chennai,Tamil nadu
The address of Chennai patent office is as below:
Intellectual Property Office, Intellectual Property Office Building,G.S.T. Road, Guindy, Chennai-600032 Phone: 044-22502081-84
All the address of the patent offices can be found in this link http://www.ipindia.nic.in/ContactPersonDetails.htm