Form 29 — Request for Withdrawal of a Patent Application
Form 29 asks the Patent Office to withdraw a pending application before a patent is granted.
What Form 29 is for
Not every application should be pursued. A better solution may emerge, the prior art may turn out to be fatal, a product line may be dropped, or the applicant may decide the invention is better kept as a trade secret. Form 29 is the request by which an applicant withdraws a pending application. Rule 26 deals with the request, and Section 11B is the provision under which the withdrawal fits into the examination scheme.
Timing is what makes this form interesting. If the application is withdrawn before the office has completed its preparations for publication, the application is not published, and the disclosure stays out of the public domain. Once publication has happened, the specification is public permanently, and withdrawal removes the application but not the disclosure. That single difference decides whether the invention can still be protected as confidential information.
There is also a fee dimension. Where an application is withdrawn before examination has begun, the Rules provide for a refund of a portion of the fee paid for the request for examination, on the terms the current Rules set. Because both the publication timing and the refund conditions have been affected by rule amendments, download the current Form 29 from the Indian Patent Office and read Rule 26 as it now stands before acting.
Who files it, and when
The applicant files it, and where there are joint applicants they all join in the request, since withdrawal ends the application for everyone. A patent agent authorised by the applicant may file the request. Where the application has been assigned, the request should come from the party recorded as applicant, so any pending change of applicant should be dealt with first.
It may be filed at any time before the patent is granted. What matters is which milestones have already passed. To prevent publication, the request has to be made before the office has completed its publication preparations, and the current Rules govern how that is calculated. To obtain the refund the Rules allow on a request for examination, the withdrawal has to come before examination has begun in the manner the Rules describe. After grant, this route is not available, and a proprietor who no longer wants a patent uses the surrender route under Section 63 instead.
How it is filed
- Confirm the decision internally, since withdrawal cannot be reversed once it has taken effect.
- Check whether the application has been published, and if not, how close it is to publication.
- Consider the alternatives first, such as narrowing the claims by amendment, filing a divisional, or letting a specific claim set go rather than the whole application.
- Check whether any refund on the request for examination is available under the current Rules.
- Complete the current Form 29 identifying the application to be withdrawn.
- File it through the e-filing portal, signed by the applicant or the authorised agent.
- Record the outcome, including whether publication has occurred, so the confidentiality position is clear afterwards.
What the form asks for
- The number of the application, its title and the date on which it was filed.
- The name of the applicant and of every joint applicant.
- A clear and unambiguous request that the application be withdrawn.
- Confirmation of the position on publication and on the request for examination, where the current form asks for it.
- Signature of the applicant or of the authorised agent.
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 29
- Withdrawing after publication in the belief that the disclosure can be recovered. Once published, the specification stays public and stands as prior art.
- Withdrawing the whole application when the real problem is one claim, where an amendment or a divisional would have preserved the rest.
- Filing the request without all joint applicants, when withdrawal affects them all.
- Assuming a refund follows automatically, when it depends on the stage reached and on the current Rules.
- Withdrawing to save cost without checking whether the priority date is supporting other family members abroad.
What happens if it goes wrong
Withdrawal ends the application. The filing date and any priority attached to it are gone as far as that application is concerned, and the applicant cannot revive it. If publication had already happened, the specification remains public and becomes prior art against any fresh filing by the same applicant for the same invention, which usually forecloses a second attempt. If the withdrawal is made in time to prevent publication, the applicant keeps the option of relying on confidentiality, which is often the whole point of the exercise.
A Mysuru company withdraws before publication
This is a simplified illustration. Chamundi Process Equipment Pvt Ltd of Mysuru files an application in April for a heat exchanger cleaning method. In September its engineers find an obscure conference paper from several years earlier describing essentially the same method, and the agent's assessment is that the application is very unlikely to survive examination. The company also realises the method is used only inside its own plant, where no customer sees it, so it could be kept confidential instead. Because the application has not yet been published, the company files Form 29 to withdraw it, in time for the office not to publish the specification. The method stays out of the public record and the company protects it internally through access controls and confidentiality terms. Had it waited until after publication, the specification would have been public permanently and the trade secret option would have been gone.
Simplified illustration only. Actual outcomes depend on the facts.
Questions about Form 29
Will my application still be published if I withdraw it?
It depends on when the withdrawal is made. If the request is filed before the office has completed its preparations for publication, the application is not published and the disclosure stays out of the public domain. If publication has already occurred, withdrawal removes the pending application but the specification remains publicly available permanently. Because the calculation of the cut-off depends on the current Rules and on the office's process, an applicant who wants to prevent publication should act early rather than close to the 18-month point.
Can I get any fees back if I withdraw?
The Rules provide for a refund of a portion of the fee paid for a request for examination where the application is withdrawn before examination has begun, on the terms the current Rules set. Fees paid for filing and other steps are generally not returned. Because the refund conditions have been affected by rule amendments, the current text of the Rules should be checked before a withdrawal is timed around a refund. The refund is rarely the main reason to withdraw, but it is worth knowing about.
Can a withdrawn application be revived?
No. Withdrawal is a deliberate act by the applicant, and once it takes effect the application is at an end. That is different from an application treated as withdrawn because a step was missed, which has its own consequences but is also not generally reversible. Because there is no way back, the decision should be taken with the whole family in mind, including whether the application is supporting priority for filings in other countries and whether a divisional would achieve the same commercial result.
What if I only want to give up part of my application?
Withdrawal is all or nothing for that application, so a partial retreat is achieved by other means. Claims can be narrowed by amendment within the limits the Act allows. Subject matter that is being dropped from one application can sometimes be pursued in a divisional application where the requirements for a divisional are satisfied. Deciding between these routes depends on the specific file, so this is a general explanation rather than guidance on any particular application.
Thinking about withdrawing a patent application?
MYCrave Consultancy & Services helps applicants weigh withdrawal, amendment and divisional options before publication.