You can look up any Indian patent application on the patent office’s public search, InPASS, using the application number. What comes back is a status label, and the labels are not self-explanatory. Some mean “wait”. Two of them mean a deadline has already been missed.
This guide explains each one and tells you whether it needs a response.
Quick reference
| Status | What it means | Action needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Filed | Application received, nothing has happened yet | No |
| Published | Application is now public | No, but the clock is running |
| RQ Filed | Request for examination has been filed | No |
| Awaiting Examination | In the queue for an examiner | No |
| Under Examination | An examiner is working on it | No |
| FER Issued | The examiner has raised objections | Yes — six months to reply |
| Application in Hearing | Objections remain; a hearing is listed | Yes — attend and file written submissions |
| Disposed | The examination stage is over | Check what it was disposed as |
| Patent Granted | You have a patent | Diarise the renewals |
| Abandoned | A deadline was missed | Yes — take advice immediately |
| Deemed to be Withdrawn | A required step was not taken in time | Yes — take advice immediately |
| Refused | The application was rejected | Yes — appeal window is short |
The statuses in sequence
Filed
The application has been received and given a number. Nothing substantive has happened.
An application sits here for a while, and that is normal. Nothing is examined until you ask for examination, and nothing is public until publication.
Published
Applications are published eighteen months after the earliest priority date. From publication the application is open to public inspection, and the specification can be read by anyone — including competitors.
Two things follow from publication. You get provisional rights from this date, which you can enforce only once the patent is granted. And anyone who wants to oppose the application before grant can now do so.
You can also ask for early publication, which brings all of this forward. That is usually a deliberate choice where you want the clock started sooner.
No action is needed at this status, but the examination deadline is running whether or not you have noticed.
RQ Filed
Your request for examination has been filed. This is the step that actually puts the application into the examination queue — without it, nothing happens and the application eventually lapses.
The deadline for filing it changed in March 2024. For applications filed on or after that date it is thirty-one months from the earliest priority date. For applications filed before it, the old forty-eight month deadline still applies. This catches people out, because most of what is written about Indian patent practice online still quotes forty-eight months.
Awaiting Examination
The request has been accepted and the application is in the queue, waiting for an examiner to be allocated. How long this takes varies considerably by technical field.
Nothing to do. If you need it moved along, expedited examination is available to certain applicants — startups, small entities, female applicants, and some others — and it makes a real difference to the wait.
Under Examination
An examiner has the file and is working on it. The next thing you will see is an examination report.
FER Issued
This one needs attention.
The First Examination Report sets out the examiner’s objections. These usually cover novelty and inventive step against cited prior art, whether the subject matter is patentable at all, and a list of formal requirements.
You have six months from the date of the report to put the application in order. That can be extended by a further three months, but the extension has to be requested and paid for, and it is not automatic.
Miss the full window and the application is treated as abandoned. There is no route back except to persuade a court that the delay should be excused, which is expensive, slow and uncertain.
This is also the point at which updated details of your corresponding foreign applications are due. Since the 2024 amendment those details are filed at two points — when you file, and within three months of the examination report — rather than being updated every six months as used to be the case.
Application in Hearing
Your reply did not clear all the objections, and the Controller has listed the matter for a hearing. You will be told the date and the objections that remain outstanding.
Attend it. Hearings can be attended by video. Written submissions are normally filed within fifteen days afterwards, and they matter as much as the hearing itself.
Disposed
This is the one that confuses people most, because it does not tell you the outcome. “Disposed” means the examination stage has concluded — the application has been granted, refused, or treated as abandoned or withdrawn.
Check the document tab and the patent office journal to find out which. If the application was granted there will be a grant certificate on the file.
Patent Granted
The patent has been granted and published in the journal.
Two things to diarise. Renewal fees start from the third year and run annually for the life of the patent; a missed renewal lapses the patent. And the post-grant opposition window is open for twelve months from publication of the grant, so the patent is not entirely safe until that passes.
You will also need to start filing statements of working. Since the 2024 amendment this is once for every three financial years, starting with the financial year after the year of grant — not annually, as it used to be.
Abandoned
A deadline was missed. Most commonly the reply to the examination report, sometimes the request for examination.
An abandoned application is not automatically recoverable. Courts have restored applications where the applicant was let down by their advisers rather than being careless themselves, but that is litigation, not a form. Take advice the same week you see this status.
Deemed to be Withdrawn
Similar in effect but different in cause. This normally appears where a required step was not taken within the time allowed — most often where no request for examination was filed at all.
Same advice: this needs someone to look at the file quickly.
Refused
The Controller has rejected the application after considering your reply and, usually, after a hearing.
There is an appeal, and the window is short. Appeals go to the High Court. Get the written order and take advice on it promptly rather than waiting.
Application Does Not Exist
Not a status — a search result. It usually means the number was typed in the wrong format, or the application has not been published yet. Applications are not searchable before publication.
Why checking matters
The patent office does not chase you. Reports and notices go to the address for service on the file, and if that address is stale, or an email lands somewhere nobody reads, the deadline runs anyway.
Every irrecoverable loss we see follows the same shape: a notice that was issued correctly, never read, and a deadline that expired while everyone assumed the application was simply moving slowly. Checking the status every couple of months costs nothing and catches it.
Frequently asked questions
What does “disposed” mean on a patent application? It means the examination stage has ended, but not how it ended. The application may have been granted, refused, abandoned or withdrawn. Check the documents on the file or the patent office journal to find out which.
How long do I have to reply to a First Examination Report in India? Six months from the date of the report, extendable by a further three months if you request the extension and pay the fee. If the full period passes without the application being put in order, it is treated as abandoned.
When must I file the request for examination in India? Thirty-one months from the earliest priority date for applications filed on or after 15 March 2024. For applications filed before that date the earlier forty-eight month deadline still applies. A great deal of published guidance still quotes forty-eight months for everything, which is now wrong for newer filings.
My application shows abandoned. Can it be revived? Not as a matter of routine. Restoration has been ordered by the courts where the applicant was let down by their advisers rather than being at fault themselves, but it means going to court. The sooner advice is taken, the better the prospects.
Why can I not find my application on InPASS? Applications are not publicly searchable until they are published, which is eighteen months after the earliest priority date unless early publication was requested. Before that, nothing will come back.
How often should I check the status? Every couple of months through examination. The two statuses that carry hard deadlines — FER issued and in hearing — are also the two where missing the deadline cannot be undone.
Useful official resources
- InPASS — Indian Patent Advanced Search System — public search by application number
- IP India — patents — forms, fees and the patent office journal
See our related notes on every stage from filing to grant and filing a patent in India.
Status showing something that needs a response? Talk to us. The deadlines on an examination report and a hearing are short, and missing them is usually final.