Section 139 of the Patents Act, 1970
Other provisions of Act to apply to convention applications
Applies the rest of the Patents Act to convention applications, except where the international arrangements chapter provides otherwise.
Official legal text
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The authority is the enacted text, not this page. Where our wording and the official provision, or an applicable Gazette notification, do not match, the official material prevails.
What this section says, in plain language
Chapter XXII deals with international arrangements and creates a few special rules for convention applications. Section 139 stops those special rules from being read as a separate code. It provides that, except where the chapter says otherwise, all the other provisions of the Act apply to a convention application and to a patent granted on it in the same way as they apply to an ordinary application and an ordinary patent.
In practice this means the familiar timeline applies without change. The application is published under section 11A, usually eighteen months from the date of filing or the priority date, whichever is earlier. A request for examination has to be made under section 11B and rule 24B, within thirty one months from the priority date or the filing date, whichever is earlier, following the 2024 amendment. The first examination report has to be answered, the application must be put in order for grant under section 21, and pre-grant and post-grant opposition under section 25 are available to third parties in the ordinary way.
The same is true after grant. The term is fixed by section 53, renewal fees keep the patent in force, working information has to be supplied under section 146 in the prescribed form, revocation grounds under section 64 apply, and rights and remedies under sections 48 and 108 are the same. A convention patent is not a superior or inferior species; it is an Indian patent that happens to carry an earlier priority date.
Certain duties that applicants sometimes think are excluded also survive. The statement and undertaking about foreign applications under section 8 applies, which is unsurprising given that a convention applicant by definition has a foreign filing. Requirements about substantive patentability under sections 3 and 4 apply fully, so a claim that would fail as a method of treatment or a computer program per se does not pass merely because it was granted elsewhere.
The message for a foreign applicant is worth stating plainly. Priority carries your date into India; it does not carry the foreign patent office's decision. The Indian examiner applies Indian law to your claims, and the timetable is Indian too.
Why this section matters
Foreign applicants and their Indian agents, and Indian applicants managing an inbound family from an overseas first filing.
Throughout the life of a convention application and the patent granted on it.
Certainty that the general provisions of the Act govern convention applications except where the chapter expressly differs.
Deadlines such as the request for examination can be missed on the assumption that international filings follow different rules.
How it works in practice
A foreign applicant discovers that Indian law is Indian law
A fictional Canadian firm, Northline Diagnostics, obtains a patent in its home country for a method of treating a metabolic condition using a known compound at a new dosage. It files an Indian convention application within twelve months, expecting a smooth grant because the claims were allowed abroad. The Indian examiner raises objections under section 3, since a method of treatment of humans is not an invention under Indian law, and questions the efficacy showing for the new form of the known substance. The firm also discovers that its request for examination is due on the Indian timetable counted from the priority date, not from an internal review date, and that it must file the statement and undertaking about its corresponding foreign applications. With its Indian agent, it recasts the claims into a product form supported by the specification and files the section 8 particulars. The convention route preserved its date. It did not preserve its foreign claim set, and section 139 is the reason why.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- All general provisions of the Act apply to convention applications unless the international arrangements chapter says otherwise.
- Publication, request for examination, examination reports, opposition, grant and renewal follow the standard route.
- Section 8 disclosure obligations apply and are especially relevant for applicants with foreign families.
- Patentability under sections 3 and 4 is tested by Indian standards, not by the outcome abroad.
- The term under section 53 and post-grant duties such as working information under section 146 apply as usual.
- The special rules in the chapter cover priority, complete specification, proof of foreign filings and related matters only.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Assuming a patent granted abroad will be granted in India on the same claims. Indian patentability standards apply independently.
- Calculating the request for examination deadline from the Indian filing date when it runs from the earlier of the priority date and the filing date.
- Believing that convention applicants are excused from section 8 disclosure because their foreign filings are already known.
- Thinking pre-grant opposition cannot be filed against a convention application. It can, on the same grounds as any other application.
Connected provisions
Indian patent law works in two layers. The Act carries the substance and the Rules carry the machinery. Because the layers are amended by different processes and at different times, they are presented in separate blocks instead of being merged into one description.
Forms, deadlines and fees
Forms are not set out in the Act. They are prescribed in the Second Schedule to the Patents Rules and are revised from time to time, so obtain the current version from the official website before filing.
- Publication normally occurs eighteen months from the date of filing or the priority date, whichever is earlier, under section 11A.
- The request for examination must be filed within thirty one months from the priority date or the filing date, whichever is earlier, under rule 24B as amended in 2024.
- The period for putting the application in order for grant under section 21 runs from the date of the first examination report and should be confirmed from the current rules.
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
You will not find case summaries under this heading today. Each one must pass a legal review before it appears, and that work has not been completed for this provision. If you are researching decided cases, use a law report or a court database in the meantime. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Section 139
Do convention applications follow the same examination timeline in India?
Yes. Section 139 applies the rest of the Act to convention applications except where the international arrangements chapter provides otherwise, so publication under section 11A and the request for examination under section 11B and rule 24B apply normally. The request for examination has to be made within thirty one months from the priority date or the filing date, whichever is earlier, following the 2024 amendment. Because priority dates are earlier, foreign applicants often have less runway than they expect.
Will India grant my patent because another country granted it?
No. A grant elsewhere is useful evidence and a helpful drafting reference, but Indian patentability is assessed under Indian law. Sections 3 and 4 exclude subject matter that some other jurisdictions allow, including methods of treatment and certain software and business method claims, and new forms of known substances face the efficacy requirement. Claims often need to be recast for India, which is best done at filing rather than after the first examination report arrives.
Can someone oppose a convention application in India?
Yes. Pre-grant representations and post-grant oppositions under section 25 are available against convention applications and the patents granted on them, on the same grounds as for any other Indian application. Wrongful claiming of priority is itself a common line of attack, which is why the particulars of the basic application and the priority documents matter so much. The opposition procedure is set out in rules 55 onwards.
Does a convention patent last longer than an ordinary Indian patent?
No. The term is fixed by section 53 and is the same for all patents. It runs from the date of filing of the application in India, and for a case that came in as an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, from the international filing date. Renewal fees prescribed in the First Schedule must be paid to keep the patent in force, and the same restoration rules apply if the patent lapses.
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