Section 12 of the Patents Act, 1970
Examination of application
Directs the Controller to refer a requested application to an examiner and sets out what the examiner must report on.
Official legal text
The verbatim statutory text of this provision is reproduced from the official source and checked by our legal reviewer before it is published here. Until that check is complete for this page, read the exact wording directly from the official source linked below — it is the only version that governs.
Nothing here replaces the statute. The official wording of the provision, together with any Gazette notification that applies to it, governs. This page only explains that material in ordinary language.
What this section says, in plain language
Section 12 is the engine room of prosecution. Once a request for examination has been made under Section 11B, the Controller refers the application and the specification to an examiner. The examiner is a technical officer with expertise in the relevant field, and the report they produce is the basis of everything that follows, including the first examination report the applicant actually receives.
The examiner's report has to cover defined ground. It must say whether the application and the specification comply with the requirements of the Act and the rules made under it. It must say whether there is any lawful ground of objection to the grant of a patent in respect of the application. It must set out the result of the investigations made under Section 13, which is the prior art search for anticipation by previous publication and by prior claiming. And it must cover any other matter that may be prescribed.
Timelines matter here even though they are internal to the office. Rule 24B sets short periods for the Controller to refer the application to an examiner after publication or the examination request, for the examiner to make the report, and for the Controller to dispose of the report and issue the first statement of objections to the applicant. These internal periods have been tightened by successive amendments as part of the effort to reduce pendency, so read the current Rule 24B rather than relying on figures quoted in older material.
What reaches the applicant is a consolidated document commonly called the first examination report, or FER. It typically raises objections in layers: substantive objections on novelty and inventive step supported by cited documents, subject matter objections under Sections 3 and 4, clarity, support and sufficiency objections under Section 10, unity objections, and formal objections about forms, priority documents, translations or the statement about foreign applications. All of them have to be answered.
It helps to remember what an examination report is not. It is not a decision. Section 12 only requires the examiner to investigate and report. The Controller then considers that report under Section 14, and the applicant is entitled to be heard before an adverse decision is made. Section 13 makes the same point from the other side by stating that the investigations do not amount to any warranty of validity. Examination reduces risk; it does not certify that a patent is bulletproof.
Why this section matters
Every applicant whose request for examination has been filed, and the agents and attorneys who respond to reports.
After the request for examination is filed and the application has been published.
The duty to refer the application to an examiner and the scope of the examiner's report.
Objections raised in the report go unanswered, which leads to refusal or to the application lapsing for failure to put it in order.
How it works in practice
Reading a first examination report properly
IIT Kanpur's technology transfer office receives the first examination report on an application for a compliant robotic gripper. The report is nine pages and the team's first instinct is to focus on the two cited documents. On a closer read the report has four distinct layers. The examiner cites a Japanese publication against claim 1 for novelty and a combination of two documents against claims 2 to 6 for inventive step. Separately, claim 12 is objected to as a computer programme as such under Section 3(k). Claims 14 to 18 are said not to be supported by the description under Section 10. Finally, the report notes that the statement regarding foreign applications is out of date and a verified English translation of the priority document is missing. The team builds its response around all four layers, amends claim 1 to add the feature the cited document lacks, recasts claim 12 around the physical control effect, deletes the unsupported claims, and files the missing documents in the same round rather than in three separate submissions.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Examination begins only after a request under Section 11B and after publication.
- The Controller refers the application and specification to an examiner, who reports rather than decides.
- The report covers compliance with the Act and Rules, lawful grounds of objection, and the results of the Section 13 search.
- Rule 24B sets internal timelines for referral, for the examiner's report and for issuing the first statement of objections.
- The applicant receives a consolidated first examination report combining substantive and formal objections.
- An examination report is not a refusal; the Controller must consider it under Section 14 and hear the applicant before deciding adversely.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Answering only the prior art objections and leaving formal or Section 3 objections unaddressed.
- Treating the first examination report as a final rejection rather than the start of a dialogue.
- Amending claims to overcome a citation without checking whether the amendment is supported by the description.
- Assuming that a clean search result means the patent will be valid. Section 13 expressly denies any warranty of validity.
Connected provisions
The Patents Act sets the requirement; the Patents Rules, 2003 set the procedure that carries it out. Parliament passes the Act and the Central Government makes the Rules, so the two are separate instruments. We list the connected rules here to take you from the principle to the paperwork.
Forms, deadlines and fees
The Second Schedule to the Patents Rules contains the prescribed forms. A form that has been amended will not match an older saved copy, so take a fresh download from the official site before you fill anything in.
- Rule 24B fixes the internal periods for referring the application to an examiner, for the examiner's report, and for issuing the first statement of objections to the applicant; check the current text for the exact periods.
Open the deadline calculator — and have every date confirmed against the current Rules before you rely on it.
Fees are prescribed in the First Schedule to the Patents Rules. Because the Schedule is revised from time to time, and charges different amounts to different categories of applicant and for physical as against electronic filing, this page describes the fee without stating a figure. How Indian patent fees work.
Related judgments
Court decisions shape how this provision is applied, but a summary is useful only if it is right. Every case note on this site is read by a legal reviewer before it goes live, and none has been completed for this provision so far. This section will fill in as those reviews finish. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Section 12
What does a patent examiner check in India?
Under Section 12 the examiner reports on whether the application and the specification meet the requirements of the Act and the Rules, whether there is any lawful ground of objection to grant, and the results of the prior art search carried out under Section 13. In practice this covers novelty, inventive step, industrial application, whether the subject matter is excluded by Sections 3 and 4, sufficiency and clarity of the specification, unity of invention, and formal matters such as forms, priority documents and translations.
What is a First Examination Report in a patent application?
The First Examination Report, usually called the FER, is the consolidated statement of objections that the Controller issues to the applicant after considering the examiner's report. It lists every objection the office has to the application, from cited prior art to missing paperwork. It is the applicant's opportunity to amend the claims, argue against the citations and complete the file. The application must be put in order for grant within the period fixed by the Rules, counted from the date of the report.
How long does it take to get a first examination report in India?
It depends on the technology field, the office workload and whether expedited examination has been requested. The Rules set tight internal timelines for referral, the examiner's report and issuing the first statement of objections, and pendency has fallen considerably over recent years. Applications examined under Rule 24C expedited examination are taken up out of turn and generally receive a report far sooner. The realistic way to plan is to check current published pendency data for your field rather than assume a fixed figure.
Is a patent examiner's report binding on the Controller?
No. The examiner investigates and reports; the Controller decides. Section 14 requires the Controller to consider the report and, where it is adverse or calls for amendment, to communicate the gist of the objections to the applicant and give an opportunity of being heard if requested. The Controller can disagree with the examiner. This division between investigation and decision is why applicants can and do succeed at a hearing even after a strongly worded examination report.
Received a first examination report you need to answer?
MYCrave Consultancy prepares complete, well-evidenced responses to every layer of an Indian FER.
You will be speaking with MYCrave Consultancy & Services, the firm that operates this platform. General questions are answered free; matter‑specific work is quoted before anything is done.