Between the day a patent application is published and the day it is granted, anyone at all can ask the Patent Office not to grant it. You do not need to be a competitor, a licensee or anyone with a stake in it. That openness is what makes pre-grant opposition the most-used challenge in Indian patent practice, and also what the 2024 Rules set out to tidy up.
This guide covers who can oppose, on what grounds, how it is filed, and what happens next under the amended procedure.
Quick reference
| Who can file | Any person — no interest in the matter required |
| When | After publication, any time before grant |
| Form | Form 7A, with a statement and evidence, copy served on the applicant |
| Fee | ₹4,000 for individuals, startups, small entities and educational institutions; ₹20,000 for others |
| First step | The Controller decides whether there is a case to answer before the applicant is troubled |
| Applicant’s reply | Two months from notice |
| Effect on the application | It moves onto the expedited examination track |
Who can oppose, and when
Anyone. The Act says “any person”, and it means it. A rival, a customer, a public-interest body, a person who simply read the specification and disagrees with it. There is no requirement to show you are affected.
The window opens on publication, which is ordinarily eighteen months after the earliest priority date, and closes on grant. There is always some window: the Rules prevent a patent being granted within six months of publication, precisely so that opposition is possible.
Because the window closes on grant, and the applicant may have requested expedited examination, an opponent who waits can find the door shut. If you intend to oppose, watch the application from publication and file early.
The grounds
The grounds are fixed by the Act and the opponent must fit within them. In plain terms, an opposition can say that:
- the invention was wrongfully obtained from the opponent or someone the opponent represents
- it was already published, in India or elsewhere, before the priority date
- it was already claimed in an earlier Indian application
- it was publicly known or used in India before the priority date
- it is obvious and does not involve an inventive step
- it is not an invention at all, or is one of the things the Act says cannot be patented
- the specification does not describe the invention sufficiently or clearly
- the applicant failed to disclose its foreign applications, or gave false information about them
- a convention application was filed too late
- the specification does not disclose the source or geographical origin of biological material used, or discloses it wrongly
- the invention was anticipated by traditional knowledge of any community, in India or elsewhere
The last three are distinctively Indian and worth a closer look when the invention touches biological material or traditional practice. The eighth — non-disclosure of foreign applications — is a formal ground that catches a surprising number of otherwise sound applications, and has its own guide.
How it is filed
The opposition is a representation on Form 7A, filed at the appropriate Patent Office with a copy served on the applicant. It must be accompanied by a statement setting out the grounds and the facts relied on, and by evidence if the opponent wishes to rely on any — prior art documents, evidence of prior use, expert affidavits.
Until March 2024 there was no fee. There now is: ₹4,000 for a natural person, startup, small entity or educational institution, and ₹20,000 for everyone else. The fee was introduced specifically to deter the serial, thinly argued oppositions that had become a delay tactic.
The opponent can also ask to be heard.
What happens next — the 2024 procedure
This is where the amended Rules changed things materially. The old procedure sent every opposition to the applicant for a reply. The new one puts the Controller in between.
Step one: the Controller’s first look. On receiving the representation, the Controller considers whether it makes out a prima facie case — whether, on its face, there is something the applicant ought to answer.
If there is no case to answer, the Controller notifies the opponent and, within one month, passes a reasoned order refusing the representation. The opponent can ask to be heard before that order; if they do, the Controller hears them and passes the order within one month of the hearing. The applicant is not troubled at this stage at all.
If there is a case to answer, the Controller passes an order recording that and, within one month, notifies the applicant.
Step two: the applicant’s reply. The applicant has two months from the notice to file a statement and any evidence in answer. This used to be three months; it is now two, and the shorter period is not one to ignore.
Step three: hearing. Either side can be heard, and the procedure follows the ordinary Patent Office hearing rules — notice of hearing, written submissions afterwards, and so on.
Step four: expedited examination. An application that has attracted an opposition which passed the first look is now examined on the expedited track, as if the applicant had requested it. The point is to remove the delay that opposition used to buy: previously an opposed application could sit for years while the opposition wound on. Now it is pushed to the front of the queue.
The Controller then decides — refusing the application, requiring amendment, or granting notwithstanding the opposition.
What the changes mean in practice
For applicants, the picture is better than it was. Weak oppositions are filtered out before you have to spend money answering them, and a serious one no longer stalls the application indefinitely.
For opponents, the bar has moved. A representation that lists grounds without evidence is likely to fall at the first look. Filing early, with the prior art actually attached and the argument actually made, is now the only version worth filing.
For both, the two-month reply is the deadline that matters. It is short, it starts from the Controller’s notice rather than from when you happen to read it, and the application goes to expedited examination alongside it — so an applicant may be answering an opposition and an examination report in the same few weeks.
After grant
Pre-grant opposition is not the only challenge. Once a patent is granted, a person interested — and here interest is required — has twelve months from publication of the grant to bring a post-grant opposition on the same grounds, heard by an Opposition Board. And a patent can be challenged for revocation at any time during its life. An unsuccessful pre-grant opponent is not out of options; they are simply out of the cheapest one.
Frequently asked questions
Who can file a pre-grant opposition in India? Anyone. The Act allows “any person” to oppose a published application before grant, with no requirement to show an interest in the outcome. Post-grant opposition, by contrast, is limited to a person interested.
What is the fee for a pre-grant opposition? Since March 2024, ₹4,000 for a natural person, startup, small entity or educational institution, and ₹20,000 for any other opponent. Before the amendment there was no fee at all.
How long does the applicant have to reply to a pre-grant opposition? Two months from the date of the Controller’s notice, to file a reply statement and any evidence. The period was three months before the 2024 amendment.
Does the applicant have to answer every opposition? No. Under the amended Rules the Controller first considers whether the representation makes out a prima facie case. If it does not, the opponent is notified and the representation is refused by a reasoned order, without the applicant being called on to reply.
Does a pre-grant opposition delay the grant? Less than it used to. An application that faces an opposition which passes the Controller’s first look is examined on the expedited track, so the opposition and the examination proceed together rather than one waiting for the other.
Can I oppose a patent after it has been granted? Yes, but on a narrower footing. A person interested may file a post-grant opposition within twelve months of the publication of the grant. After that, the route is a petition for revocation.
Useful official resources
- IP India — patents — forms, fees and the patent office journal
- InPASS — patent search — find published applications and check their status
See our related notes on every stage from filing to grant and what each application status means.
Facing an opposition with the two-month clock running, or weighing whether to file one? Talk to us.