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Understand Your Indian Patent Application Status
In today’s innovation-driven economy, securing a patent for your invention is not just a legal formality—it’s a strategic step to protect your competitive advantage. A granted patent gives you exclusive rights to make, use, sell, or license your invention in India. However, before a patent is granted, an application must go through a series of legal and procedural stages, each governed by strict timelines.
Once a patent application is filed with the Indian Patent Office (IPO), it progresses through several stages before reaching a final outcome, either grant or refusal. Each stage is reflected as a status on the IPO’s tracking platform, InPASS (Indian Patent Advanced Search System). These statuses are not mere labels—they mark critical milestones and deadlines that applicants must monitor carefully. Missing a deadline can result in an application being abandoned or refused, often without any chance of revival.
Understanding the meaning of each status ensures that inventors, applicants, and patent professionals can act in time and safeguard valuable innovations.
Under Section 11A of the Indian Patents Act, a patent application is ordinarily published 18 months from the filing date or the earliest priority date, whichever is earlier. After publication, details of the invention become publicly available in the Official Patent Journal and are searchable on InPASS.
An application may remain unpublished if the Controller issues a secrecy direction under Section 35, if it is abandoned for failure to file a complete specification within twelve months of a provisional application, or if it is voluntarily withdrawn at least three months before the expiry of the 18-month period.
Applicants can also request early publication by filing Form 9, which significantly shortens the waiting period. Early publication can be a tactical advantage, as it allows faster entry into examination and puts competitors on notice.
When InPASS shows this status, it usually means the application has not yet entered the public domain because the 18-month statutory period has not expired. Occasionally, it may also appear if the application number has been entered incorrectly. Applicants may either wait for automatic publication or request early publication to expedite the process.
After publication, the application will not proceed automatically. A Request for Examination (RFE) must be filed within 48 months from the filing date or earliest priority date. Until this request is made, the status will remain “Awaiting Request for Examination.” Missing this deadline leads to the application being deemed withdrawn by law. Filing the RFE early is often beneficial, as it allows the application to enter the examination queue sooner.
Once the RFE has been filed, the application is queued for allocation to a Controller. At this stage, substantive examination has not yet started. The next step will be the issuance of a First Examination Report (FER). Applicants should monitor InPASS closely, as the six-month countdown for filing a FER reply begins immediately once it is issued.
When a FER is issued, it contains the Controller’s objections regarding novelty, inventive step, industrial applicability, or compliance with formalities. The status will show as “FER Issued – Reply Not Filed” until a response is submitted. Applicants have six months, extendable by three more months on request, to file a reply. Many applications lapse simply because this deadline is missed, so timely action is essential.
Once the applicant submits a reply to the FER, the status updates to reflect that the matter is under amended examination. The Controller re-examines the application in light of the amendments and arguments. Depending on the outcome, the application may proceed directly to grant, receive further objections, or be scheduled for a hearing.
If significant objections remain unresolved after the FER reply, the Controller may call the applicant for a hearing. The hearing notice specifies the issues, date, and mode of appearance. Post-hearing written submissions must be filed within fifteen days (extendable to one month). This stage is often the applicant’s final chance to persuade the Controller before a decision is made.
A status of “Granted” signifies success: the invention has satisfied all requirements under the Patents Act, and the Controller has issued the patent. The patent is published in the Official Patent Journal, and the twenty-year term begins from the filing date (or international filing date for PCT applications). The patentee must ensure timely payment of annual renewal fees starting from the third year to keep the patent in force.
If the Controller concludes that the invention does not meet legal requirements—whether due to lack of novelty, inventive step, disclosure issues, or ineligibility under Sections 3 or 4—the application may be refused. Refusal is a serious outcome, but applicants may appeal to the High Court within three months if they believe the decision is incorrect.
If a provisional application is filed, it must be followed by a complete specification within twelve months. Failure to do so results in automatic abandonment, with no option for revival. Applicants lose their original priority date and must file afresh if they wish to pursue protection for the invention.
After issuance of a FER, the application must be placed in order for grant within the prescribed period—six months, extendable to nine months. If not, the application is abandoned under Section 21(1). Even one unaddressed objection can trigger abandonment, and once abandoned, the application cannot be revived.
Applicants may voluntarily withdraw their application by filing Form 29 before grant. If withdrawal is made before the FER is issued, 90% of the examination fee is refunded. Withdrawal is often strategic, used when the invention no longer aligns with business goals or when a refiling with changes is planned.
If no Request for Examination is filed within the 48-month statutory period, the application is treated as withdrawn automatically. The Patent Office is not required to issue a separate notice. This deadline is absolute and missing it results in permanent loss of rights.
From filing to grant, a patent application passes through multiple stages, each with statutory deadlines. Missing even one deadline can result in irrevocable loss of rights. For applicants, this means constant vigilance is essential—both during the pre-grant phase tracked on InPASS and during post-grant maintenance.
Best practices include checking application status regularly, responding promptly to office actions, keeping complete records of filings and communications, and ensuring that the Patent Office always has accurate contact details.
At Intepat, we help innovators, startups, and corporations track, prosecute, and maintain patents across all stages. Our team ensures that no statutory deadlines are missed and that every procedural requirement is handled with precision.
📩 Contact us today to secure and maximise the value of your intellectual property.
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