Patent registration in India runs under the Patents Act 1970, through the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. A Nepali inventor cannot use the PCT, because Nepal is not a member. The route is a direct Indian filing, or a Paris Convention application made within 12 months of a first filing in Nepal.
Key takeaways
- India grants patents under the Patents Act 1970; Nepal's Department of Industry has no role there.
- Nepal is not in the PCT, so a Nepali applicant cannot file an international application alone.
- File in Nepal first and you have 12 months to file in India, with a complete specification (Sec. 135).
- Applications publish at 18 months; examination must be requested within 31 months.
- Anyone may oppose before grant, and a person interested for one year after it (Sec. 25).
- An Indian patent lasts 20 years from filing and never covers Nepal.
Who grants patents in India?
The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), often called the Indian Patent Office, examines and grants Indian patents. It works through four patent offices, in Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, each covering a group of Indian states.
Procedure sits in the Patents Rules 2003, amended most recently in 2025. A foreign applicant with no place of business in India is handled by the office where its Indian address for service sits (Rule 4). That address needs an Indian postal address and an email address (Rule 5).
What counts as an invention in India?
Sec. 2(1)(j) defines an invention as a new product or process that involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application, meaning it can be made or used in an industry.
Inventive step, under Sec. 2(1)(ja), is a technical advance or economic significance that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art. Nepal's Act states a simpler test: under Sec. 5 of the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965, the Department of Industry asks whether an invention is new and useful.
Sec. 3 lists what is not an invention, including mere discoveries, a mathematical or business method, a computer programme per se, algorithms, methods of agriculture and medical treatment methods. Our guide to what can be patented in Nepal covers the Nepal side.
Run a patent search before you draft. Indian examiners test novelty against publications anywhere, so knowing what exists helps you draft claims that survive.
Can a Nepali inventor use the PCT to reach India?
Not alone. The Patent Cooperation Treaty lets "any resident or national of a Contracting State" file an international application (PCT Art. 9). WIPO Lex lists 159 members, read on 18 October 2026. India joined on 7 December 1998; Nepal is not on the list.
There is one narrow exception. Where there are several applicants, one eligible applicant is enough (PCT Rule 18.3), so a Nepali inventor filing jointly with an Indian company could use it. Our explainer on the PCT and international filing sets out the rest.
How does the Paris route work from Nepal to India?
Both countries belong to the Paris Convention: India since 7 December 1998 and Nepal since 22 June 2001, according to WIPO's treaty table. That lets a Nepali first filing set the date for India.
Under Sec. 135, an Indian application filed within twelve months of your first application in a convention country takes that earlier date for claims based on matter disclosed in it. Sec. 133 treats a fellow treaty member that grants Indians similar rights as a convention country.
The catch is Sec. 136. Every convention application must be filed with a complete specification, so a provisional filing is not an option on this route, and the Indian draft has to be finished by month twelve.
Provisional or complete specification: which comes first?
If India is your first filing, Sec. 9(1) lets you start with a provisional specification, then file the complete specification within twelve months. Miss that deadline and the application is deemed abandoned.
The complete specification carries the claims, the numbered sentences that set the legal boundary of the patent. Claims drafted too narrowly let competitors design around them; claims wider than the description invite objections at examination.
How does an Indian patent application move to grant?
An ordinary application passes six stages, set by the Act and the Rules; the office's pace between them varies by field.
- File. Submit Form 1 and the specification in Form 2, naming the true and first inventor (Sec. 7).
- Complete it. Replace a provisional with a complete specification within twelve months.
- Publication. The application is published at 18 months, or earlier on request.
- Request examination. File Form 18 within 31 months, or the application is treated as withdrawn.
- Answer objections. You have six months to put the application in order, extendable by three (Rule 24B).
- Grant. Once objections and any opposition are resolved, the patent is granted, dated from the filing date (Sec. 45).
An objection is not a refusal. It is the examiner's list of problems, and a reasoned reply with amended claims is the normal way through.
When is the application published and examined?
Rule 24 keeps an application confidential for 18 months from its filing or priority date, whichever is earlier, then the office publishes it in its journal. Early publication can be requested in Form 9. From publication, Sec. 11A(7) gives rights as if the patent were granted, but no infringement case can be brought until grant.
No application is examined unless someone asks (Sec. 11B). The Patents (Amendment) Rules 2024, in force from 15 March 2024, cut the period in Rule 24B from 48 months to 31 months from the priority or filing date, whichever is earlier.
Applications filed before that date keep 48 months, which is why older guides still quote it. Missing the request is fatal: under Sec. 11B(4) the application is treated as withdrawn.
Who can oppose an Indian patent, and when?
India has two windows. Under Sec. 25(1), any person may oppose in writing after publication and before grant, on listed grounds such as lack of novelty, obviousness, insufficient description or failure to disclose foreign filings.
Under Sec. 25(2), a person interested may oppose within one year from the publication of the grant, and an Opposition Board reviews the notice. Sec. 25(1)(c) also lets an opponent rely on an Indian claim with an earlier priority date, so in India too the earlier filer wins.
Nepal works differently. A registered patent is published in the Nepal Gazette (Sec. 7A(1)), and anyone may object within 35 days from seeing or copying it (Sec. 7A(3)).
What does a Nepali applicant file in India?
A Paris-route filing from Nepal needs the Indian forms, a certified copy of the Nepal application when the Controller asks (Sec. 138), and an authorisation for your Indian agent, often called a power of attorney. Your agent will confirm the current list.
Form 3 trips up many foreign applicants. It lists corresponding foreign applications, including your Nepal filing, with an undertaking to report new ones until grant (Sec. 8). Failing to disclose them is itself an opposition ground.
Can you register a patent in India online?
Yes. IP India runs an e-filing portal, and under Rule 6(1A) a registered patent agent must file every document electronically, producing an original within fifteen days if asked.
A Nepali applicant still needs the Indian address for service that Rule 5 requires, which is why most foreign applicants appoint a registered Indian patent agent.
How long does an Indian patent last?
Sec. 53 sets the term at 20 years from the filing date; a PCT national-phase patent runs from the international filing date. The right survives only while renewal fees are paid.
Under Rule 80 they fall due every year from the end of the second year, with up to six months' extension on request. A patent that lapses for non-payment loses its protection (Sec. 53(4)). Fees change, so check the current schedule before you budget.
A patentee also files a working statement in Form 27. Since March 2024, Rule 131 asks for it once every three financial years.
How do India and Nepal compare?
The two systems differ at almost every step, so one filing plan rarely suits both.
| Issue | India | Nepal |
|---|---|---|
| Office | CGPDTM, four patent offices | Department of Industry (DoI) |
| Law | Patents Act 1970 | Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act 1965 |
| Test in the statute | New, inventive step, industrial application | New and useful (Sec. 5) |
| Route from Nepal | Paris application within 12 months | Direct filing at the DoI |
| PCT membership | Yes, since 7 December 1998 | No |
| Publication | Application, at 18 months | Registered patent, in the Nepal Gazette |
| Challenge | Pre-grant, and one year post-grant | 35 days from seeing or copying |
| Term | 20 years from filing | 7 years, renewable twice (21 years) |
Our comparison of IP law in India and Nepal covers trademarks and designs as well.
Do you still need a patent in Nepal?
Yes, if you make or sell the product in Nepal. Patents are territorial, so an Indian grant gives no rights here, and only a Nepal patent supports action against patent infringement in Nepal. The first-to-file principle generally applies in Nepal, and filing at the Department of Industry first also fixes your date for India.
A Nepal patent lasts 7 years from registration and may be renewed twice for seven years each (Sec. 8), as our guide to patent renewal in Nepal explains. The DoI issues a registration certificate once it registers the patent.
For the application, the DoI typically asks for the application form, a notarised power of attorney, the specification and claims, and certified foreign filing papers where relevant. Our guides to patent registration in Nepal and the patent application process walk through it.
An Indian company coming the other way also files at the DoI. Sec. 21C lets the Department register a foreign-registered patent without enquiries if the certificate is enclosed; it says "may", so treat that as a possibility. The Act is on the Nepal Law Commission site and DoI forms are on the Department of Industry website.
IP Sewa files in Nepal only. Our team for the registration of patents and trademarks prepares the Nepal application; the Indian filing goes through a registered Indian agent.
Common mistakes Nepali inventors make with India
- Disclosing before filing. A launch or trade-fair demo can destroy novelty; India's exception in Sec. 31 covers only notified exhibitions and learned-society papers.
- Planning a provisional on the Paris route. A convention application needs the complete specification from day one.
- Counting from the wrong date. The 12 months start at your earliest filing in any convention country.
- Quoting the old 48 months. Applications filed since 15 March 2024 have 31 months to request examination.
- Filing in Nepal first while living in India. Sec. 39 requires a permit before an Indian resident files abroad, unless an Indian application came at least six weeks earlier.
- Assuming India covers Nepal. It does not; each country needs its own filing.
What does a well-timed India filing look like?
Here is an illustration, not a real case. A Butwal workshop builds a millet thresher with a new sieve mechanism and plans to sell in Nepal and Bihar. It keeps the design confidential and files at the DoI.
It uses the Paris year to field-test and decide on India. In month ten its Indian agent files a convention application with a complete specification, claiming the Nepal date and listing it in Form 3.
The thresher goes on show only after both filings exist. Its brand name is a separate matter for trademark registration, and can be checked against 71,500+ published marks in IP Sewa's trademark search.
In short: how do you register a patent in India from Nepal?
Keep the invention confidential, file first, and work to Indian deadlines that count from that first date. From Nepal there is no PCT shortcut: file at the DoI, then in India within twelve months with a complete specification.
After that, request examination within 31 months, answer objections and pay renewal fees each year.
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Planning a patent in Nepal and India? Start with our patent filing team for the Nepal application, or contact IP Sewa to plan the timing.
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