Protecting your IP in India.
If your brand, product or technology is sold, made or licensed in India, protection here is separate from protection anywhere else. This page covers what tends to surprise businesses coming in from outside.
India is its own jurisdiction
A registration in the United States, the European Union or anywhere else gives no rights in India. Protection is national, and it has to be applied for here.
That is true even where an international system is involved. A Madrid Protocol registration designating India, or a PCT application entering the national phase, is examined under Indian law by the Indian office, and can be refused or opposed here on grounds that did not arise elsewhere.
What tends to catch businesses out
Filing first matters
India registers trademarks on a first-to-file basis, though earlier genuine use can still be asserted. A business that waits until it launches here often finds someone has already applied for its name.
Disclosure can cost you a design or patent
A design must be new anywhere in the world when it is filed, and India allows no general grace period for the applicant's own launch. Patents turn on the same idea. Showing the product first and filing later usually closes the door.
Examination takes time, deadlines do not wait
Waiting for an examination report can take a long while. The periods for answering one, and several other steps, are short and in some cases cannot be extended at all.
Oppositions are common
Third parties oppose applications here more readily than in many jurisdictions, and anyone at all can oppose a patent application before it is granted.
Enforcement runs through the courts
Interim injunctions are where most Indian IP disputes are effectively decided, often within weeks of filing. For counterfeiting, criminal action and detention of goods at the border are available alongside a civil suit.
Some things cannot be protected here
India excludes more from patenting than most countries — business methods, software as such, and new forms of known substances that do not work better. An invention patented elsewhere is not automatically patentable here.
Working with us from abroad
One point of contact
You deal with the person handling your matter rather than a queue, and the same person stays with the file.
Reporting you can act on
We explain what an official action means for your business and what the options are, rather than forwarding the document and asking for instructions.
Your existing counsel
Where you already have IP counsel at home, we are happy to work through them. Many of our instructions arrive that way.
Across the subcontinent
If your interests extend beyond India, we handle Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives through one team.
What we usually need to act
It is a short list, and we will confirm what applies to your matter.
- A power of attorney, simply signed — no notarisation or legalisation is required in India.
- Your company's full name, address and legal status as they should appear on the register.
- What you want to protect, and where it is already protected or applied for.
- Where a priority claim is available, the earlier filing's details and a certified copy.
Part of the global IP community
We are members of the leading international IP associations, where we learn from practitioners in other jurisdictions, contribute to the work of committees, and meet the colleagues we turn to when a client's portfolio reaches beyond the subcontinent.
Where to read further
Our guides explain Indian practice in plain language, right by right.