How much does patent registration cost in India, all-in?

Official fees start at ₹1,600 for individuals and DPIIT-recognised startups. Legismith quotes professional fees fixed, stage by stage, before you commit — so the realistic total to grant is known on day one.

Should I file a provisional or a complete specification first?

If a pitch, demo or publication is coming, file a provisional first — it secures your priority date and gives 12 months to file the complete specification. If the invention is settled, filing complete directly can save a step.

Is software or AI patentable in India?

Computer programs per se are excluded under Section 3(k) of the Patents Act, but inventions demonstrating a technical effect or technical contribution are granted in India. Drafting toward that standard from the start decides most software cases.

What happens if I receive a First Examination Report (FER)?

Almost every Indian application receives an FER; you have six months to respond. A reasoned response with strategic claim amendments resolves most objections, and where a hearing is appointed, your agent argues before the Controller.

Can Legismith take over an application filed by another firm or portal?

Yes. Transfers at the FER or hearing stage are common. Legismith reviews the file, assesses its position honestly, and quotes a fixed fee for the remaining stages.

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LEGISMITHPARTNERS LLP

Patent registration in India · 7 stages

A patent is granted in prosecution.
We practise there.

Filing is the easy part of patent registration in India. Patents are won in the FER response and the hearing before the Controller — where Legismith has argued for 15 years. Search to grant, at fixed stage-wise fees you'll know on day one.

Get a fixed quote in 24 hours 48-hour search report

0 years in practice 7 stages, all fixed-fee All 4 patent offices Quotes in 24h · filings in 48h

What does patent registration in India involve? Seven stages: patentability search, drafting, filing (official fee from ₹1,600 for startups and individuals), publication, request for examination, the FER response and hearing, and grant — typically 3–5 years, or 1–2 with expedited examination under Rule 24C. Professional fees at Legismith are fixed per stage and quoted within 24 hours.

On this page

The 7-stage process
Why prosecution decides everything
Official fees (2026)
Expedited examination — Rule 24C
Software & AI: Section 3(k)
Patent FAQs

The route to grant

Patent registration in India: the 7 stages

No mystery, no open-ended billing. The whole journey — what happens, how long it takes, and the official fee at each stage for individuals and DPIIT-recognised startups.

Stage 1 · Week 1

Patentability search & opinion

Before you spend on drafting, know your odds. Prior-art search mapped feature-by-feature against your invention, with a clear file / don't-file opinion — delivered in 48 hours.

Fixed fee · adjusted against drafting if you proceed

Stage 2 · Weeks 2–4

Drafting the specification

Provisional first if a pitch or publication is near — it locks your priority date and buys 12 months. The complete specification is drafted for the objection we know is coming, not just for filing day.

Stage 3 · Go-ahead +48h

Filing & benefit claims

Filed at the appropriate office (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Kolkata) with every fee benefit you're entitled to claimed as standard — startup, small entity or individual status, via Form 28.

Official fee from ₹1,600 (startup / individual e-filing)

Stage 4 · 18 months, or on request

Publication

Your application publishes automatically at 18 months. Where strategy favours speed, we request early publication and shorten the road to examination.

Stage 5 · Within 31 months of priority

Request for examination — expedited where eligible

Startups and small entities can request expedited examination under Rule 24C and cut years off the wait. We file it for every eligible client — the most underused benefit in Indian practice.

Stage 6 · The decisive stage

FER response & hearing

The First Examination Report is where most applications live or die — novelty, inventive step and Section 3 objections, answered within the 6-month window, and argued in person before the Controller when a hearing is appointed. This is the stage we're known for.

Stage 7 · Grant, then 20 years

Grant & renewals

On grant, your patent runs 20 years from filing, subject to annual renewals from year 3 — which we calendar and manage so protection never lapses by accident.

Patent registration in India — application process at Legismith The patent registration process we run for every client, from search to grant.

Why firms matter more than portals

Anyone can file. The grant is earned later.

A filing portal's job ends at the receipt. But in India, nearly every application meets an examination report — and software, AI and pharma applications meet Section 3 objections that decide everything. Surviving them is a craft built on hundreds of FER responses and hearings.

When you engage Legismith for patent registration, the agent who drafts your specification is the one who answers its FER and stands up at its hearing. One name on the filing, accountable from search to grant.

Years of prosecution practice

IP matters handled

Patent offices we appear before

Search report turnaround

Transparent costs

Patent registration fees in India (2026)

Government fees under the First Schedule (ipindia.gov.in). Our professional fee is quoted fixed, stage by stage, before you commit — so the total cost is known on day one.

Stage (e-filing)	Individual / Startup / Small entity	Other entities
Application (up to 30 pages, 10 claims)	₹1,600	₹8,000
Early publication (optional)	₹2,500	₹12,500
Request for examination	₹4,000	₹20,000
Expedited examination (Rule 24C)	₹8,000	₹60,000

Figures per the current First Schedule for e-filing; excess pages/claims attract incremental fees. Verified at quote time — your quote includes the exact amounts.

Our promise: one fixed professional fee per stage — search, drafting & filing, FER response, hearing. No hourly meters, no surprise invoices mid-prosecution. If scope genuinely changes, we re-quote before we work, never after.

Rule 24C

Years, or months — eligibility decides

Ordinary examination route~3–5 years to grant

Expedited under Rule 24C (startups, small entities & more)often 1–2 years

If you're a DPIIT-recognised startup, a small entity, or otherwise eligible, expedited examination is usually the highest-value decision in your whole patent registration strategy. We assess eligibility in every engagement and file the request as standard.

Building in software or AI? Section 3(k) is the gate — and it opens.

Computer programs per se are excluded from patent registration in India. But inventions that demonstrate a technical effect or technical contribution are granted — the case law behind that route has only strengthened, and the difference lies entirely in how the application is drafted and argued.

This is the most common conversation we have with founders, and our core practice area: we draft for the 3(k) objection before it arrives, and answer it when it does.

IP for startups →

International · PCT & national phase

Filing beyond India — or into it.

Going global from India: one PCT application keeps your options open in 150+ countries for 30/31 months — long enough to raise funding before committing to expensive national filings. We handle the PCT filing, the strategy of where to enter, and the deadlines that don't forgive.

Entering India from abroad: we run PCT national phase entries into India end-to-end for overseas applicants and foreign attorneys — including a steady China-to-India practice — with docketed formalities (Form 3, proof of right, translations) and the same prosecution-first FER handling our domestic clients get.

India fee calculator → Discuss your filing strategy

Official resources

Verify everything at the source

We believe informed clients are better clients. These are the Indian Patent Office's own portals — the same ones we work in daily.

Patent filing processipindia.gov.in — official workflow Patent search (InPASS)Search published Indian applications Forms & official feesThe First Schedule, from the source Patent e-filing portalWhere your application is filed

Straight answers

Patent registration in India — FAQs

Official fees start at ₹1,600 for individuals and DPIIT-recognised startups. The real cost is professional drafting and prosecution — which we quote fixed, stage by stage, before you commit. You'll know the realistic total to grant on day one, including renewals.

If a pitch, demo or publication is coming, file a provisional now — it secures your priority date and gives you 12 months to file the complete specification. If the invention is settled and funds allow, filing complete directly saves a step. We advise per case; there's no universal answer.

Computer programs per se are excluded under Section 3(k), but inventions showing a technical effect or technical contribution are granted in India. Drafting toward that standard from the start — rather than retrofitting it at the FER stage — is what decides most software cases.

Almost every application receives a First Examination Report — it's a normal stage, not bad news. You have six months to respond. A reasoned response, with claim amendments where strategic, resolves most objections; where a hearing is appointed, we appear and argue before the Controller.

Yes — transfers at the FER or hearing stage are common, particularly from filing portals. We review the file, give you an honest assessment of its position, and quote fixed for the remaining stages.

Tell us what you've built.

A line or two about your invention is enough. You'll have a fixed-fee quote for patent registration and a recommended next step within 24 hours — confidential, and without obligation.

Prefer chat? WhatsApp us — we reply fast.

A patent is granted in prosecution.We practise there.