Form 18A — Request for Expedited Examination of a Patent Application
Form 18A asks for an application to be examined out of turn, where the applicant falls within an eligible category.
What Form 18A is for
Ordinary examination follows a queue, and the queue can be long. Rule 24C provides a faster track for applicants who fall within specified categories, and Form 18A is the request. It is made under the same statutory basis as an ordinary request, Section 11B, but it asks for the application to be taken up out of turn.
Eligibility is category-based rather than open to all. The categories set out in Rule 24C have been expanded by amendment over the years, and have included applicants such as startups, small entities, female applicants, certain government undertakings and departments, applicants eligible under an arrangement between the Indian Patent Office and a foreign patent office, and applicants who selected India as the International Searching Authority or International Preliminary Examining Authority in a corresponding international application. Because that list has changed more than once, the current text of Rule 24C must be checked before assuming eligibility.
What the request achieves is speed, and speed has consequences on both sides. The examination report comes sooner, but so does the period for putting the application in order for grant, so an applicant who is not ready to prosecute actively should think before accelerating. There is also a fee difference, and the fee prescribed in the First Schedule for expedited examination is higher than for ordinary examination. Download the current Form 18A from the Indian Patent Office before filing.
Who files it, and when
Only applicants within the categories Rule 24C specifies may use it, and the request must be supported by evidence of eligibility. Where an application has joint applicants, the eligibility position of all of them generally has to be satisfied, so a startup that has taken on a large corporate co-applicant may find the route unavailable. An authorised agent files the request on the applicant's behalf.
The request is made within the period Rule 24C allows, which is tied to the examination timetable, and the application must have been published or early publication must have been requested. An applicant who has already filed an ordinary request for examination may in some circumstances convert it to an expedited request on the conditions the Rule sets, including payment of the difference in the fee prescribed in the First Schedule. Because the Rule has been amended and the conversion conditions have changed with it, check the current text rather than working from an older summary.
How it is filed
- Check the current text of Rule 24C to confirm that the applicant falls within an eligible category.
- Assemble the evidence of eligibility, such as the recognition document for a startup or the supporting material for another category.
- Confirm the application has been published, or file the request for early publication alongside.
- Prepare the claims properly before accelerating, because the examination report will arrive sooner than usual.
- Complete the current Form 18A and file it with the evidence of eligibility.
- Pay the fee prescribed in the First Schedule for expedited examination, or the difference where an ordinary request is being converted.
- Diarise the reply period tightly, because the compressed timetable leaves little slack.
What the form asks for
- The number of the application, its filing date and any priority date claimed.
- The category of eligibility relied on under the current Rule.
- Documentary evidence supporting that category, in the form the Rule requires.
- Confirmation of publication, or a request for early publication filed at the same time.
- Details of any earlier ordinary request for examination on the same application.
- Payment of the fee prescribed in the First Schedule at the expedited rate.
Described in general terms. Form contents are prescribed in the Second Schedule and change — download the current version from the Patent Office rather than working from any summary, including this one.
Common mistakes with Form 18A
- Assuming eligibility from an old list. The categories in Rule 24C have been expanded and changed, and the current text governs.
- Filing without the evidence of eligibility, which leads to a requirement and removes the time advantage the request was meant to buy.
- Accelerating an application whose claims are not ready, so that the first examination report arrives before the applicant has settled its position.
- Ignoring the co-applicant position, when the eligibility of all applicants matters.
- Requesting expedited examination without checking whether the application has been published, since examination follows publication.
What happens if it goes wrong
If the request is not made, the application is examined in the ordinary queue, which is slower but otherwise unaffected, provided the ordinary request was filed in time. If the request is made and the applicant is found not to be eligible, the office raises a requirement and the advantage is lost, though the application itself continues. If it is granted, the applicant gets an earlier report and a compressed prosecution timetable, and an applicant who cannot keep pace with that timetable risks the application being treated as abandoned for failure to put it in order in time.
A recognised startup in Bhubaneswar accelerates its application
This is a simplified illustration. Kalinga Robotics Pvt Ltd of Bhubaneswar holds a startup recognition certificate and has an application pending for a warehouse picking arm. A distributor is willing to commit to volumes but wants a granted patent before signing, and the ordinary queue would take far longer than the commercial window. The company files a request for early publication, and once the application is published it files Form 18A relying on the startup category under Rule 24C, attaching its recognition certificate and paying the fee prescribed in the First Schedule for expedited examination. Before filing, its agent reviews the claims and files a voluntary amendment tightening the independent claim, so the file is in good shape when the examiner reaches it. The examination report issues far sooner than an ordinary request would have produced, and the company has counsel and a reply strategy ready for the compressed timetable.
Simplified illustration only. Actual outcomes depend on the facts.
Questions about Form 18A
Who is eligible for expedited examination in India?
Eligibility is set by Rule 24C, and the categories have been expanded by amendment. They have included startups, small entities, female applicants, certain government undertakings and departments, applicants covered by an arrangement between the Indian Patent Office and a foreign patent office, and applicants who chose India as the International Searching Authority or International Preliminary Examining Authority for a corresponding international application. Because the list has changed more than once, check the current text of the Rule before preparing a request, and be ready to evidence the category claimed.
How is Form 18A different from Form 18?
Both are requests for examination under Section 11B. The ordinary request puts the application into the normal queue. The expedited request asks for it to be taken up out of turn and is available only to applicants within the eligible categories. The expedited route carries a higher fee, requires evidence of eligibility, and produces a compressed prosecution timetable. An applicant who is not eligible, or who is not ready to prosecute quickly, uses the ordinary route.
Can I convert an ordinary request into an expedited one?
The Rule provides for conversion in the circumstances it sets out, on payment of the difference in the fee prescribed in the First Schedule and on satisfying the eligibility requirements. The conditions attached to conversion have changed with successive amendments, so the current text of Rule 24C should be checked rather than relying on how it worked previously. Where conversion is available it is usually simpler than any alternative, because the original request preserves the position on the underlying examination deadline.
Does expedited examination make grant more likely?
No. It changes when the application is examined, not how it is judged. The examiner applies the same statutory requirements on patentability, novelty, inventive step, sufficiency and the exclusions under the Act. What changes is the pace: the report arrives sooner and the period for putting the application in order runs sooner. Applicants who accelerate without a settled claim strategy sometimes find themselves worse off than if they had used the ordinary queue and prepared properly.
Do you qualify for expedited patent examination?
MYCrave Consultancy & Services helps applicants check Rule 24C eligibility and prepare for a compressed timetable.