Rule 24B of the Patents Rules, 2003
Examination of application
Sets the deadline for requesting examination and the timetable for answering the first examination report before an application can be granted.
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.
Treat this page as a guide. The provision as officially published, along with the Gazette notifications that apply to it, remains the governing text and overrides any simplification here.
What this rule requires, step by step
An Indian patent application is not examined automatically. It sits in the office, published in due course, until somebody asks for it to be examined. That request is made on Form 18 with the prescribed fee, and it can be filed by the applicant or by any interested person. Rule 24B is the rule that fixes when the request must be made and what happens after it is made.
The deadline was shortened by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024. For applications governed by the amended rule, the request for examination must be filed within thirty-one months from the earliest priority date, or from the filing date where there is no priority claim. Applications filed before that amendment took effect continue under the longer period that applied to them, which was forty-eight months. Because the change is recent and the transitional position matters, always confirm which period applies to your particular application. If no request is filed in time, the application is treated as withdrawn.
After the request, applications are taken up broadly in the order in which requests were filed. The examiner studies the specification, searches for prior art and reports to the Controller on novelty, inventive step, patentability under the exclusions, sufficiency of disclosure, unity of invention and the formal requirements. The Controller considers that report and issues the first examination report, usually called the FER, to the applicant.
The reply timetable is the part applicants must know. The application has to be put in order for grant within six months from the date the first examination report is issued. That period can be extended by three months, but only if a request in Form 4 with the prescribed fee is filed before the original six months expires. There is no relief after the six months has already run out.
Putting the application in order means meeting every requirement: amending the claims where necessary, filing arguments and evidence, correcting formalities and completing any outstanding statements. If objections survive the written reply, the Controller must give the applicant a hearing before refusing, and the hearing and the written submissions that follow it have to fit inside the same overall window.
Missing the window has a hard consequence. The application is deemed to have been abandoned. This is not a refusal that can be argued on the merits; it is a lapse, and the invention, already published, usually cannot be refiled.
Why this rule matters
Every applicant with a pending Indian application, and any interested person who wants a pending application examined.
From filing until the examination request deadline, and then during the months following the first examination report.
The obligation to request examination in time and to place the application in order for grant within the period allowed.
The application is treated as withdrawn for a missed request, or deemed abandoned for a missed reply, and years of work are lost.
How it works in practice
A Jaipur MSME uses its full reply window properly
Marudhar Ceramics Pvt Ltd of Jaipur files an application for a kiln liner and requests examination in good time on Form 18. The first examination report arrives in March and raises three objections: one prior art citation against novelty, an inventive step objection combining two documents, and a clarity objection on claim 1. The firm's adviser diarises three dates: the six month reply date in September, an internal target in July, and the last date for filing a Form 4 extension request, which must be before September. In July the firm files a reply narrowing claim 1 to add the ceramic gradient that the cited documents do not disclose, with experimental data on thermal cycling. The Controller is satisfied on novelty but wants the inventive step point argued at a hearing. The hearing is fixed in August, written submissions follow, and the application is granted. Had the firm waited until September to start, there would have been no room for the hearing at all.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Examination happens only if a request is filed on Form 18 with the prescribed fee.
- Under the 2024 amendment the request is due within thirty-one months of the earliest priority or filing date; older applications follow the earlier forty-eight month period.
- An interested person, not only the applicant, can request examination.
- The application must be put in order for grant within six months from the date the first examination report is issued.
- That six months can be extended by three months only if Form 4 is filed before the six months expires.
- A missed request means the application is treated as withdrawn; a missed reply means it is deemed abandoned.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Waiting for the office to start examination on its own. Nothing happens until a request is filed.
- Counting the reply period from the date the report was received rather than the date it was issued.
- Filing the Form 4 extension request after the six months has already expired, when it can no longer be entertained.
- Using the whole reply period on drafting and leaving no time for a hearing, which must also fall within the window.
- Assuming an abandoned application can simply be refiled. The earlier publication usually destroys novelty.
Connected provisions
Every rule traces back to a section. The linked sections are shown apart from the rule because the two are separate instruments, and because a rule that goes beyond its parent section can be challenged. Knowing the parent provision is part of reading the rule properly.
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.
- Request for examination on Form 18 within thirty-one months from the earliest priority date or filing date, under the rule as amended in 2024; applications filed earlier follow the forty-eight month period that applied to them.
- The application must be put in order for grant within six months from the date the first examination report is issued.
- A three month extension of that period is available only if Form 4 is filed before the six months expires.
Open the deadline calculator — and have every date confirmed against the current Rules before you rely on it.
This site does not carry a fee table. The First Schedule to the Patents Rules is the source, the rates vary with the applicant's category and with the mode of filing, and a figure quoted second-hand goes out of date quietly. How Indian patent fees work.
Amendment history
What changed in this provision, newest first. Read the footnotes in the official consolidated text for the full record.
- 2024The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024The period for filing a request for examination was cut to 31 months from the priority date or the filing date, whichever is earlier, for applications filed after the change. The extension provisions were also relaxed.
- 2016The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2016The examination timetable was rewritten, with shorter periods for issuing and disposing of examination reports and a shorter period for putting an application in order for grant, subject to a limited extension.
- 2005The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2005The rule took its modern shape when examination on request replaced automatic examination.
Compiled from official consolidated texts and Gazette notifications. See the site-wide change log.
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 Rule 24B
Is the request for examination deadline thirty-one months or forty-eight months?
It depends on your application. The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 reduced the period to thirty-one months from the earliest priority or filing date for applications governed by the amended rule. Applications filed before that change continue under the forty-eight month period that applied when they were filed. Because getting this wrong is fatal, check the date your application was filed against the commencement of the 2024 amendment, and confirm the position with the current text of the rule.
Can somebody else request examination of my application?
Yes. The Act allows an interested person to file the request as well as the applicant. This sometimes happens when a competitor wants a pending application resolved rather than left hanging over a market, since a pending application creates commercial uncertainty. The person filing the request does not become a party to the examination and gains no control over the application. The applicant still deals with the report and still decides how to respond.
What does putting the application in order for grant actually mean?
It means removing every outstanding objection. Typically that involves amending the claims to distinguish the cited prior art, answering objections under the exclusions from patentability, correcting the description and abstract, completing formal documents such as proof of right and the statement about foreign applications, and paying any balance fees. The office must be able to say that nothing stands in the way of grant. Partial compliance at the deadline is treated as non-compliance.
Can I get more time after the nine months has run out?
No. The six month period, plus the three month extension where Form 4 was filed in time, is the outer limit for putting the application in order. Once it passes, the application is deemed abandoned. The general power of the Controller to extend time under the Rules does not rescue an application from this particular lapse, and applicants should treat the date as final. Start work on the reply within weeks of receiving the report, not months.
How long after the request will I actually receive the report?
That varies with the technology field and the office workload, and it is measured in months rather than weeks. The Rules set internal timelines for the examiner to report and for the Controller to issue the first examination report after considering it, but the practical waiting time depends on the queue in your field. If speed matters, check whether you qualify for expedited examination, which is designed to compress this waiting period.
Have you received a first examination report?
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