Patent Cooperation Treaty in India: How the PCT Works, Step by Step

The Patent Cooperation Treaty in India (the PCT) lets you file one international patent application that counts as a filing in all 159 member countries. It does not grant a patent. It gives you a search report and a written opinion, and it postpones the cost of choosing countries. Entry is usually due at 30 or 31 months; India allows 31.

This guide to the PCT in India is for Indian applicants and for applicants entering India. The Indian Patent Office takes part at both ends: it receives filings from Indian applicants, it can do the search, and it receives the Indian entry.

Quick answer: A PCT application is one filing that keeps your options open in 159 countries. To claim priority from an earlier application, normally file it within 12 months of that application. Enter India within 31 months of the priority date; many countries use 30 months, so check each one. If you miss the 31-month date, do not plan on any relief.

How the Patent Cooperation Treaty in India works

The treaty is an agreement between 159 countries, run by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. An application filed under it counts as a regular national filing in each member country. India became bound on 7 December 1998; the newest member, the Bahamas, on 19 August 2026. Countries outside the treaty are not covered.

There is no world patent. A PCT application never becomes a patent on its own. At the end of the PCT stage you still enter each country, or each regional system such as Europe’s, where you want protection. You pay that country’s fee and its office examines your invention under its own law.

What the PCT gives you is information and time. Take a startup that has filed in India and now wants protection in the United States, Europe and Japan. On the direct route it files in each place within 12 months of the Indian filing and pays every fee before it knows whether the invention is new. On the PCT route, if it claims priority, it files once within that period, receives a search report and a written opinion, and decides where to spend money later. Neither document binds any country, but they help you judge whether the national fees are worth paying. The Indian application it already filed continues on its own track.

The PCT timeline: what happens when

Many PCT deadlines run from the priority date: the filing date of the earlier application you claim, usually your first Indian filing. If you claim none, the PCT filing date is the priority date. Others depend on events, such as when the search report is sent, so diary each date when it happens. The earliest priority claimed sets the timetable.

For example, a founder files in India on 1 March 2026 and files the PCT application on 1 March 2027. Suppose the search report is sent on 1 July 2027 (an assumption; the real date depends on the searching office). Claims could then be amended until about 1 September 2027, and WIPO publishes around 1 September 2027. A preliminary examination could be demanded until 1 January 2028. The Indian entry and the examination request are due by 1 October 2028. The treaty’s own default entry date is 1 September 2028.

These are nominal dates. 1 January 2028 is a Saturday and 1 October 2028 is a Sunday. Offices may move a date that falls on a closed day, but the rule differs by office and by step, so check the office calendar and do not rely on an extension.

The two optional steps are for applications that need work. If the search report is favourable and you want only a few countries, you can skip both and wait for the entry date. Our guide to PCT amendments under Article 19 and Article 34 compares the two routes, and our Chapter II demand guide covers whether a demand is worth filing.

Which office does what: India’s five jobs in the PCT

The Indian Patent Office receives PCT filings from Indian applicants, searches and examines international applications, and takes in the Indian entry of applications filed anywhere in the world. In WIPO’s terms those are five roles: receiving office, searching authority, examining authority, designated office and elected office.

First, it is a receiving office. If you live in India or are an Indian company, you may file your PCT application with the Indian Patent Office, which forwards it to WIPO. You may also file directly with WIPO’s International Bureau in Geneva. Our guide to filing a PCT application from India covers the choice.

Second and third, it is a search authority and an examining authority. When you file at the Indian office, you can choose India, Austria, Australia, China, the European Patent Office, Japan, Sweden or the United States to search. Choosing India is one way to qualify for expedited examination in India, but startups and small entities may qualify anyway. Also weigh the target offices’ practice, language, search coverage and fees. Our guides to choosing a search authority from India and choosing India as your search authority compare the options.

Fourth and fifth, it is the designated office, or the elected office if you asked for a preliminary examination naming India. Either way it receives your Indian entry. From then on it treats your application like any other Indian application. The description, claims, drawings and abstract of the PCT application become your Indian specification.

A PCT application normally designates India automatically. To pursue protection here, you must complete the Indian entry requirements in time. The Indian application keeps the international filing date, but its national processing is a separate stage that you have to start.

Filing a PCT application from India

Before you file abroad, check for permission. If you live in India, you must have filed the same invention in India at least six weeks earlier, with no secrecy direction in force, or hold the Controller’s written permission. To be safe, treat a PCT application as a foreign filing, even at the Indian office. If you are claiming priority, clear this before the 12-month date.

Permission is requested on Form 25. The Controller must decide within 21 days (Rule 71), or, for inventions that concern defence or atomic energy, within 21 days of the Central Government’s consent.

Breaking this rule is serious. The Indian application is treated as abandoned, and a patent that is later granted can be revoked. The rule does not apply if the invention was first filed abroad by someone living outside India. Our foreign filing licence guide walks through the form and the timing.

The PCT filing then involves linked choices: where to file, which office searches, whether to amend the claims after the search report, and whether to ask for the preliminary examination. Make them together. Each of the eight search offices open to you sets its own search fee, and the choice affects cost, language and how the later examination goes.

Read the search report when it arrives. It lists the earlier documents the examiner found. The written opinion with it says, claim by claim, whether the invention looks new and inventive. A favourable opinion can support entering countries. A negative one is a reason to amend, argue, or reconsider. Review the cited documents and reasoning when you prepare for Indian examination. A favourable opinion does not show that you meet Indian requirements, such as the exclusions in Section 3. Our guide to negative written opinions and the Indian examination report goes further.

If India was your search or examining authority, keep the records that show it, such as the search report form naming India. They support a request for expedited examination in India at the entry stage.

Bringing a PCT application into India

Entry into India means three things before the 31-month date: file the Indian application, pay the fee, and file an English translation if the PCT application was not filed or published in English. If any one is missing, the application is treated as withdrawn (Rule 22). Our guide to PCT national phase entry in India has a document checklist.

The Indian application goes on Form 1.

Pay the whole fee. It depends on the number of pages and claims, and the claims count as you amended them, if you did. The whole fee must come with the document, and an unpaid fee means it is treated as not filed (Rule 7, Section 142(3)). Check the page and claim counts before you work out the fee.

The translation must be verified as correct and complete. It covers the description, the claims as filed, any words in the drawings, and the abstract. If you amended the claims under Article 19, translate the amended claims and any statement filed with them. If you named India in a demand for preliminary examination, translate the amended description, claims and drawing text attached to its report. If the office invites you to supply a translation and you do not, it disregards those amendments (Rule 20). You may drop claims at entry, which saves excess-claim fees; see our amendments after entry guide.

Four more papers follow, each with its own clock. First, the statement of your patent applications in other countries, on Form 3. File it within six months of the day you file the Indian entry papers; it carries no fee. Update it within three months of the first examination report, and comply with any reasoned direction for a fresh statement within the two months given. Our Section 8 and Form 3 guide explains what goes into it.

Second, the declaration naming the inventors, on Form 5. File it with the application; the Controller can allow one more month if you ask on Form 4 and pay the fee.

Third, if you appoint a patent agent, file the authorisation on Form 26 or a power of attorney within three months; the office will not act on the file until it arrives. Whether or not you use an agent, you must give an address for service in India. Fourth, if you hold the right to the invention by assignment, file proof of that right within six months of the day you file the Indian entry papers.

WIPO’s India chapter says a PCT declaration under Rule 4.17 may satisfy some inventorship and assignment requirements. Unless the office confirms that for your case, still file Form 5. If anything is missing, the office will invite you to supply it.

If the priority document has not already reached WIPO or been made available to it, as PCT Rule 17.1 requires, file it with the Indian office by the 31-month date. If it is not in English, the office may also require a verified English translation by the same date. If you have not complied, the office invites you to do so and you then have three months. If you still do not, your priority claim is disregarded (Rule 21).

The request for examination needs its own diary line. For applications filed on or after 15 March 2024, it is due within 31 months of the priority date, the same day as the entry. Older applications keep the 48-month period; for a PCT application, the international filing date is treated as the Indian filing date (Section 7). If you miss the date, the application is treated as withdrawn. File Form 18 with the entry papers, not afterwards.

If you later withdraw the application before the first examination report, 90 per cent of the examination fee can be refunded on Form 29.

Two options can speed things up. You can ask the office to start work before the 31-month date by filing Form 18 with an express request and a higher fee.

Or you can ask for expedited examination on Form 18A, online only. The grounds include India being your search or examining authority, being a startup or small entity, being a woman applicant (where all applicants are individuals), or being a government body. Our expedited examination guide has the full list. A request that does not qualify is treated as an ordinary examination request, and if the application is not yet published, a publication request on Form 9 must go with it.

After you enter India: what happens next

The office publishes the application, examines it after your request, and issues a first examination report setting out its objections. You have six months from issue to put the application in order for grant; a Form 4 request can add three months. A timely reply does not by itself show compliance. If the application is not in order in time, it is treated as abandoned. Otherwise the patent may be granted.

Indian publication normally follows once the office starts processing the application, which is at 31 months unless you file the early-start request. From Indian publication until grant, Section 11A(7) gives the applicant the same privileges and rights as a patentee, but no infringement suit can start until the patent is granted. WIPO’s India chapter records no such protection from international publication alone.

A granted Indian patent on a PCT application lasts 20 years from the international filing date, not from the Indian entry date. Renewal fees run from that date too, so several years may already be due at grant. They can be paid within three months of the patent being recorded, and with a fee on Form 4 the time can stretch to nine months in all (Section 142). If your PCT application covered more than one invention, the examiner may ask you to split it; our guide to unity of invention and divisionals at entry explains how.

PCT or direct filing: how to choose

The PCT is not always the right route. If you know you want protection in only one or two countries, filing directly in those countries, normally within 12 months to keep the earlier priority, is often cheaper. The PCT earns its extra fees when you want several countries, or are not yet sure which ones.

Ask three questions. How many countries are seriously in play? When do you want to spend the money: at 12 months, or spread out to 30 months or more? And how much is the search report worth to you before you commit? A founder still raising funds usually values the delay. A company with a clear export market may not need it.

The direct route is called the Paris Convention route, after the treaty that gives you the 12-month priority period. Our comparison of the Paris Convention route and the PCT sets out the cost arithmetic. Whether an early-stage company should use the PCT at all is covered in our guide to the PCT for Indian startups.

The deadlines you cannot get back

Three deadlines matter most for India. The 12-month priority period can sometimes be rescued, but not through the Indian office, and India does not honour a restored date. India offers no routine reinstatement after the 31-month entry date. The examination request, due on the same day, is a separate question under Rule 138.

Start with the 12-month date. If you file your PCT application late, you have two more months to file it and to ask the receiving office to restore your priority. Both the filing and the request must fall inside that window, with reasons and any evidence or fee the office requires. A receiving office applies either the “unintentional” test or the “due care” test, whichever it has chosen. The Indian office does not accept these requests. WIPO’s International Bureau does, and it applies both tests. An Indian applicant in this position should file at WIPO. Our guide to the missed 12-month PCT deadline explains the request.

A real example. One of our clients filed an Indian application on 20 July 2022. The PCT application was filed at the International Bureau on 7 August 2023, eighteen days after the 12-month date. The application was published as WO 2024/018446 with the July 2022 priority restored.

India has told WIPO that it does not give effect to a restored priority date, whether a receiving office granted the restoration or it is requested in India. Other countries decide for themselves, so check each one. If the family comes into India, India does not give effect to the restoration, so your own earlier filing may count against you. Your 31 months still run from the original priority date (PCT Article 2).

Now the 31-month date. India has told WIPO that it does not reinstate rights after a missed entry (PCT Rule 49.6), and Rule 137(2) switches off the Controller’s power to correct irregularities for this deadline.

Two other routes may exist, but neither is an entitlement. Rule 138 lets the Controller extend a time or condone a delay for up to six months on a Form 4 request made before that six-month period expires; the wording on timing is not clear. WIPO’s India chapter, whose Rule 138 text pre-dates the 2024 change, lists the entry date and the examination request among the times it does not reach. The wording of the Rules is wider, so the point is unsettled.

Rule 6(6) allows a petition where war, revolution, civil disorder, strike, natural calamity, a general outage of electronic communications or a similar cause disrupted normal communication where you live or work. You must petition with a statement and evidence that satisfy the Controller, and act within one month of that cause ending. The delay excused cannot run past six months after the deadline or past the period a national emergency was in force, whichever is earlier. We do not rely on any decision applying either route to the entry date or the examination request, so treat 31 months as fixed.

A missed request for examination is a separate issue. The wording of Rule 138 is wide enough to cover it, but WIPO’s India chapter lists it as excluded, so do not plan on relief; it is not an automatic grace period. India’s reservation against reinstatement concerns the entry date. File Form 18 with the entry papers. Our guides to late entry in India and late entry in other countries explain what remains, and our checklist of PCT filing mistakes in India covers the ten most common slips.

What it costs in India

Indian government fees depend on who you are, how you file, and how long the application is. Individuals, startups, small entities and educational institutions pay the lower rate; everyone else pays five times as much for most items. The figures below are the electronic filing rates (except the transmittal fee, which is the paper rate), verified as of October 2026.

Paper filing costs about 10 per cent more, and some requests can only be filed online. Indian patent agents must file electronically (Rule 6(1A)). To get the lower rate as a startup, small entity or educational institution, file Form 28 with every paper that carries a fee; an individual does not need it. There is no transmittal fee when you file through WIPO’s ePCT system.

A note on the transmittal fee. For electronic filing outside ePCT, the First Schedule shows Rs 3,200 or Rs 16,000, while WIPO’s guide shows none. Confirm with the office before you pay.

These are only the Indian fees. WIPO and the search authority charge their own fees for the PCT stage, and at the Indian office you pay them in rupees. Each other country charges its own entry fee. Use our PCT national phase calculator for the Indian entry cost of a specific case, and see our PCT fees in India guide for worked examples. The wider picture of patent costs in India covers filing outside the PCT route, and our overview of patent law in India covers what happens after entry.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Patent Cooperation Treaty in one sentence?

It is an agreement between 159 countries that lets you file one international patent application, get one search report, and usually wait until 30 or 31 months from your priority date before choosing the countries where you will seek a patent. It never grants a patent itself.

How many countries are in the PCT?

There are 159 PCT member countries as of October 2026, according to WIPO’s list of PCT Contracting States. India became bound on 7 December 1998. The Bahamas is the newest member, bound from 19 August 2026. The list changes when a country joins, so check it before you plan.

Does a PCT application give me a patent?

No. The PCT covers only the first stage: filing, search, publication and an optional preliminary examination. To get a patent you must enter each country or region you care about, pay its fee, and pass its examination under its own law. The search report helps you decide where that money is worth spending.

What is the 31 month deadline for India under the PCT?

You must enter India within 31 months of your priority date, under Rule 20(4)(i) of the Patents Rules 2003. The treaty default is 30 months, and India has chosen the later date. The request for examination is due on the same 31-month date for applications filed on or after 15 March 2024.

Can I get more time if I miss the 31-month date for India?

Do not plan on it. India does not reinstate rights after a missed entry, and the power to correct irregularities is switched off for this deadline (Rule 137(2)). Rule 138 and the Rule 6(6) petition may exist, but both are discretionary, WIPO’s India chapter casts doubt on the first, and neither is an entitlement.

Can an Indian resident file a PCT application directly with WIPO?

Yes, after clearing Section 39. You must have filed the same invention in India at least six weeks earlier with no secrecy direction in force, or hold the Controller’s written permission on Form 25. Once that is done, the International Bureau in Geneva is a receiving office open to you, as is the Indian office.

Is India a PCT search authority?

Yes. The Indian Patent Office is appointed as both an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority. You can choose it when you file at the Indian office, and when you file at WIPO as an Indian national or resident. Choosing India is one ground for expedited examination in India on Form 18A.

How much does it cost to enter India through the PCT?

The Indian filing fee is Rs 1,600 for an individual, startup, small entity or educational institution and Rs 8,000 for everyone else, for up to 30 pages and 10 claims filed online. The request for examination costs Rs 4,000 or Rs 20,000. Translation and agent charges are extra, and vary by case.

This article explains the law on the Patent Cooperation Treaty in India as at October 2026 and is for general information only. It is not legal advice. Government fees, forms, and procedures change; confirm current figures with the Indian Patent Office before you file. For advice on your specific invention, consult a registered patent agent.

Sources

1. Patents Act 1970 (sections 7, 8, 11A, 11B, 21, 39, 40, 53, 64 and 142): IP India, Act e-version, each section on its own page, consulted 26 October 2026
2. Patents Rules 2003 (rules 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 24A, 24B, 24C, 26, 71, 80, 135, 137 and 138), as currently amended, consulted 26 October 2026: IP India, rule 20
3. The First Schedule to the Patents Rules 2003, fees: official schedule, PDF
4. Patent Cooperation Treaty and Regulations under the PCT, in force from 1 January 2026, WIPO: PCT texts
5. WIPO PCT Applicant’s Guide, India national chapter and annexes, valid from 1 July 2026, with WIPO’s reservations and incompatibilities list (status 3 September 2026): Applicant’s Guide, India