Foreign filing permission and secrecy directions
The provision Indian residents most often breach without realising it.
A person resident in India generally cannot apply for a patent outside India for an invention unless an application has first been filed in India and a set period has passed, or written permission has been obtained.
The permission route uses Form 25 and is usually decided quickly, unless the invention is relevant for defence purposes or atomic energy.
The consequence of getting this wrong is severe: it is a ground of revocation of the corresponding Indian patent, and it carries penal consequences. Researchers filing through a foreign collaborator are the most common casualties.
The provisions that govern this
Act sections and Rules are listed separately, as they always are on this site. Open a provision for its own explanation, example and deadlines.
- 4Inventions relating to atomic energy not patentable
- 8Information and undertaking regarding foreign applications
- 35Secrecy directions relating to inventions relevant for defence purposes
- 36Secrecy directions to be periodically reviewed
- 37Consequences of secrecy directions
- 38Revocation of secrecy directions and extension of time
- 39Residents not to apply for patents outside India without prior permission
- 40Liability for contravention of section 35 or section 39
- 41Finality of orders of Controller and Central Government
- 42Savings respecting disclosure to Government
- 76Officers and employees not to furnish information, etc.
- 118Contravention of secrecy provisions relating to certain inventions
- 124Offences by companies
- 143Restrictions upon publication of specification
- 144Reports of examiners to be confidential
- 157AProtection of security of India
Filing abroad, or already have?
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