You know that feeling when you’ve built something you’re genuinely proud of: a gadget that just works, a formula that finally clicks, or a piece of hardware that solves a problem you’ve been wrestling with for weeks? And then someone casually drops, “You should patent it”. It sounds flattering… and a little daunting.
Here in India, patents sit in this odd space between the everyday and the mysterious. We’ve all heard of them, maybe even read about a big company getting one, but when you actually try to navigate the process yourself, it stops feeling like a shiny badge of innovation and starts looking like a maze. Acronyms everywhere, legal sections you’ve never heard of, words like “novelty” and “inventive step” that seem clear until you have to prove them.
That’s why I want to slow things down. Let’s walk through the world of patents in India: what they really protect, who they’re for, how you get one, and the little traps that can quietly trip you up along the way.
What exactly is a patent?
A patent, at its heart, is a trade. You tell the world exactly how your invention works, down to the details someone skilled in your field would need to build it themselves, and in return, the state gives you a time-limited monopoly. In India, that’s 20 years from the date you file. It’s a long stretch, but here’s the twist: when the clock runs out, anyone can use your invention without asking. That’s the deal, exclusive rights today, public property tomorrow.
The point isn’t to lock knowledge away forever. It’s to encourage innovation by giving inventors a temporary monopoly, enough to recoup investments and maybe fund the next breakthrough.
Do you actually have an “invention”?
Not every spark of inspiration earns a ticket to the patent office. In India, the law has a pretty clear checklist for what counts as an invention: it has to be new, it has to show an inventive step, and it has to be something you can actually make or use in the real world. “New” isn’t just about being different from your last project, it means your idea hasn’t surfaced anywhere, ever, before your filing date. Not in a journal, not in a YouTube demo, not even in the slides you flashed at last month’s conference. “Inventive step” is the part that weeds out the obvious tweaks, if it’s the kind of change any skilled person in your field could figure out over lunch, it won’t pass. And “industrially applicable”? That’s just a formal way of saying your idea needs a practical purpose. No patents for daydreams that can’t be built, tested, or used outside of a thought experiment.
The real test? Imagine explaining your idea to a colleague in your field. If they respond with, “Oh, that’s clever, I wouldn’t have thought of that”, you’re closer to inventive step territory. If they shrug and say, “We’ve all tried that”, you might need to rethink your angle.
What’s not patentable here
This is where India draws lines that surprise a lot of first-time applicants. Section 3 of the Patents Act is like a filter for what the country has decided shouldn’t get patent protection.
New forms of known substances that don’t improve efficacy in a meaningful way? That’s out. This is the famous Section 3(d) clause that made headlines in the Novartis v. Union of India case. Novartis wanted a patent for an updated cancer drug formulation, but the court said no, it wasn’t enough to show a new form; you had to prove it worked better in a significant, measurable way.
Pure software without a “technical effect” is another big exclusion. You can’t just take a known algorithm, code it, and call it an invention. But if your software works with hardware in a way that produces a technical improvement, better image processing in a camera, for instance, that’s a different conversation. The Ferid Allani case nudged the interpretation in that direction, but the principle stands: show the technical contribution.
Other no-go zones include mathematical methods, business methods, mere arrangements of known devices, and anything that goes against public morality.
Filing in India: the practical path
So, let’s say you’ve got something that passes the “invention” test. What next?
Many inventors start with a provisional application. It’s a placeholder, you describe your invention as it stands, lock in a priority date, and get 12 months to refine it into a complete specification. This is a lifesaver if you’re up against a looming publication or pitch day but don’t have all your data ready.
If your invention is polished and ready to go, you can skip straight to the complete specification. From there, you can request early publication to speed things up, or let it publish automatically after 18 months.
But here’s a detail that trips people up: nothing moves until you file a Request for Examination. In India, you’ve got 48 months from the earliest priority date to do this. Miss it, and your application dies quietly. When the examination starts, you’ll usually get a First Examination Report with objections, sometimes about novelty, sometimes about how you’ve worded your claims, and often about those tricky Section 3 exclusions.
Responding well is an art. You might amend claims, submit experimental data, or argue that the examiner’s cited prior art doesn’t actually cover your invention. Sometimes you’ll have a hearing. If you clear all objections, you get your grant.
The rights you get—and the limits
Once your patent is granted, you hold a powerful card: you can stop others in India from making, using, selling, or importing your invention without your say-so. But here’s the bit many people miss: owning a patent doesn’t automatically mean you’re free to use your invention yourself. You still have to play by the rest of the rulebook. If your breakthrough is a new chemical process, for example, you might still need environmental clearances before you can actually fire it up in production. A patent protects your rights, it doesn’t override every other law in the land.The term is 20 years from filing, and you’ll need to pay annual renewal fees to keep it alive. If you stop paying, it lapses.
Then there’s Form-27, the “statement of working”. This is India’s way of checking whether you’re actually using the patent in the country. The idea is that patents should benefit society, not just sit on a shelf. If you’re not working your patent, and it’s something important, say, a life-saving drug—someone could apply for a compulsory licence. That’s what happened in the Bayer v. Natco case, where the licence was granted because the drug was too expensive and not widely available.
Why timing matters for academics and startups
For professors, researchers, and students, the timing game is everything. Publish before you file, and you’ve just destroyed your own novelty. The safest route? File a provisional before you send that paper to a journal or before the conference abstract goes live. Some exceptions exist, but they’re narrow and risky to rely on.
Startups face a different tension: you want to show off your product to attract investors, but public demos before filing are a danger zone. Again, a provisional buys you breathing room. And if you plan to file abroad, remember India’s Foreign Filing Licence requirement, if the invention was made here, you need permission before filing elsewhere first.
Software, AI, and the grey areas
One of the most common questions I hear now is: “Can I patent my AI model?” The short answer: not by itself. A machine learning algorithm is considered a mathematical method. But if that model is part of a larger system that solves a technical problem, say, reducing power consumption in a hardware-controlled device, you can frame your claims around the system and its technical effect.
India’s current guidelines for Computer-Related Inventions make it clear that the focus is on technical advancement, not just novelty in the code. The Ferid Allani decision reinforced this by saying that genuine technical contributions should be considered, even if implemented in software.
Compulsory licensing: a rare but real lever
Most patent owners never face a compulsory licence. But in areas like pharma or critical tech, it’s a factor worth knowing. If a patented product isn’t reasonably priced or isn’t meeting public demand, someone else can apply to make and sell it under certain terms. In the Bayer-Natco case, this meant a generic drug maker could produce a cancer medicine at a fraction of the original price, while paying royalties to Bayer.
For startups, this isn’t usually a daily worry, but it’s a reminder that patents operate within a broader social contract.
India in the global IP ecosystem
If you’re looking to protect your invention beyond India’s borders, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) can be your best friend. File once, and you get up to 30/31 months to enter multiple countries, giving you time to test markets and raise funds. Just remember: if your invention was made in India, you need that Foreign Filing Licence first.
The bottom line for innovators
In India, a patent is far more than a stack of stamped papers. It’s a strategic asset, something that can draw investors to your door, spark partnerships, and give you a real edge in the market. But it’s not something you can treat casually. File too late, and novelty’s gone. File too soon without enough detail, and you risk a weak patent. Ignore the exclusions, and you’ll waste months arguing with the examiner.
The strongest patents come from inventors who plan ahead, not just creating something new, but also thinking about how they’ll prove it’s original, useful, and inventive, and how it fits into their bigger vision. Whether you’re a professor ready to publish, a student experimenting in the lab, or a founder fine-tuning a pitch, treat patents as part of your story from the start. The Indian Patent Office and WIPO can give you the formalities, but the real value comes when you tie those rules to your own journey. A patent isn’t just a framed certificate, it’s a living part of your innovation’s future, and in a country as inventive as India, that future is worth protecting.
Author: Abhijit Bhand
Abhijit is an Intellectual Property Consultant and Co-founder of the Kanadlab Institute of Intellectual Property & Research. As a Registered Indian Patent Agent (IN/PA-5945), he works closely with innovators, startups, universities, and businesses to protect and commercialize their inventions. A double international master’s degree holder in IP & Technology Law (JU, Poland), and IP & Development Policy (KDI School, S. Korea), and a Scholar of World Intellectual Property Organisation (Switzerland), Abhijit has engaged with stakeholders in 15+ countries and delivered over 300 invited talks, including at FICCI, ICAR, IITs, and TEDx. He is passionate about making patents a powerful tool for innovation and impact.
