Expedited Examination Procedure in Indian Patent System
The Expedited Examination was introduced in the Patent Amendment Rules of 2016.
After rule 24B, the new rule of 24C has been inserted which deals with the procedure of Expedited Examination.
According to Rule 24 C.
An applicant may file a request for expedited examination in Form 18A along with the fee of rupees eight thousand for individuals and startup, twenty five thousand for small entity and sixty thousand for others only by electronic transmission duly authenticated within 48 months from the date of priority of the application or from the date of filing of the application, whichever is earlier on any of the following grounds namely
- that India has been indicated as the competent International Searching Authority or elected as an International Preliminary Examining Authority in the corresponding international application or
- that the applicant is a startup.
A request for examination filed under rule 24B (Examination of Application in Form 18) may be converted to a request for expedited examination complying with the conditions as stated above. The fees for the conversion is rupees four thousand for individuals and startup, fifteen thousand for small entity and forty thousand for others.
A request for expedited examination can be filed only after the publication of the application.
A request for expedited examination filed by a startup shall not be questioned by the Controller merely on the ground that the startup ceased to be a startup after having filed an application for patent due to the lapse of more than five years from the date of its incorporation or registration or the turnover subsequently crossed the financial threshold limit.
The examiner shall make the report in one month but not exceeding two months from the date of reference of the application to him/her by the Controller.
The limitation of this rule is that the Controller restricts the number of requests for expedited examination to be received during the year by way of notice to be published in the official journal.
