IP India guide
Patent fees in India (2026)
By Raj Sutariya, Co-founder, PatentAssist.ai
Updated
Filing a patent in India costs ₹1,600 in official fees for an individual, startup, small entity or educational institution, and ₹8,000 for anyone else. Getting it examined adds ₹4,000 or ₹20,000, so the minimum official cost to grant is ₹5,600 or ₹28,000. Below is every fee from filing to renewal, and a calculator for your application.
Official e-filing fees from the First Schedule to the Patents Rules, 2003, as amended in 2024. Checked against IP India on 21 October 2026. Professional fees are extra.
Patent fee calculator
Total official fees
E-filing fees. Paper filing costs about 10% more. Paying renewals at least 4 years in advance online takes 10% off those renewals. Excludes professional fees and extensions.
Indian patent fee schedule
The lower rate applies when every applicant is a natural person, a DPIIT-recognised startup, a small entity or an educational institution. Everyone else pays the "Others" rate, which is five times higher for most items.
| Item | Lower rate | Others |
|---|---|---|
| Patent application (provisional or complete), up to 30 pages and 10 claims Form 1 | ₹1,600 | ₹8,000 |
| Each page over 30 Form 1 / Form 2 | ₹160 | ₹800 |
| Each claim over 10 Form 1 / Form 2 | ₹320 | ₹1,600 |
| Complete specification after a provisional (within 30 pages and 10 claims) Form 2 | No fee | |
| Early publication Form 9 | ₹2,500 | ₹12,500 |
| Request for examination Form 18 | ₹4,000 | ₹20,000 |
| Expedited examination Form 18A , e-filing only | ₹8,000 | ₹60,000 |
| Statement on foreign filings, inventorship declaration, working statement Forms 3, 5, 27 | No fee | |
| Amendment before grant Form 13 | ₹800 | ₹4,000 |
| Extension to reply to the FER, per month (up to 3) Form 4 | ₹1,000 | ₹4,000 |
| Pre-grant opposition Form 7A , e-filing only | ₹4,000 | ₹20,000 |
| Post-grant opposition Form 7 , e-filing only | ₹8,000 | ₹40,000 |
| Restoration of a lapsed patent Form 15 , plus ₹4,800 / ₹24,000 | ₹2,400 | ₹12,000 |
| Claim to small entity, startup or educational institution status Form 28 | No fee | |
How the Form 7A and Form 7 oppositions run is covered in our guide to patent opposition in India.
Patent renewal fees in India
A patent lasts 20 years from the filing date. Renewal fees are due every year from the 3rd year; each one has to be paid before the year it covers begins, and the deadline can be extended by up to 6 months on Form 4 (₹480 / ₹2,400 a month). If the patent is granted after the 2nd year, the renewals already due are payable within 3 months of the grant being recorded.
| Years | Lower rate, per year | Others, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd to 6th | ₹800 | ₹4,000 |
| 7th to 10th | ₹2,400 | ₹12,000 |
| 11th to 15th | ₹4,800 | ₹24,000 |
| 16th to 20th | ₹8,000 | ₹40,000 |
| All 18 renewals | ₹76,800 | ₹3,84,000 |
A patent that lapses for non-payment can be restored within 18 months on Form 15. To see when a particular patent was filed, and so when its renewals fall due, look it up in the free Indian patent search.
Deadlines that cost money if you miss them
- Complete specification: within 12 months of a provisional, or the application is abandoned.
- Form 18: within 31 months of the priority date (48 months for applications filed before 15 March 2024), or the application is treated as withdrawn.
- Reply to the FER: 6 months, plus up to 3 more at ₹1,000 / ₹4,000 a month on Form 4.
- Form 3: within 6 months of filing, and updated within 3 months of the FER. A late Form 3 costs ₹2,000 / ₹10,000 a month to condone.
- PCT national phase: within 31 months of the priority date (rule 20(4)). The PCT national phase deadlines table has the dates for other countries.
The Indian patent application status guide explains which of these applies at each stage of an application.
Keep the spec within 30 pages and 10 claims
Every page over 30 and every claim over 10 adds to the filing fee. PatentAssist.ai drafts claims, the complete specification and the abstract in IP India format from your invention disclosure, so you can see the page and claim count before you file.
More IP India guides
- Patent drawing requirements: USPTO, EPO and India
37 CFR 1.84, the EPO rules that replaced Rule 46 EPC, and Indian rule 15, compared side by side.
- How to check Indian patent application status
Where to check an Indian patent application's status, and what each status means.
- The Indian Patent Journal, explained
What the weekly Indian Patent Journal publishes and how to search it.
- How to file a patent in India, step by step
Every step from prior art search to grant, with the forms and deadlines at each one.
- Types of patent applications in India
Ordinary, provisional, convention, PCT national phase, divisional and patent of addition, plus product vs process patents.
- Provisional vs complete specification in India
When to file a provisional, what it must contain, and the 12-month deadline for the complete.
- How to write patent claims: USPTO, EPO and India
Claim structure and worked examples, then the claim rules and fees at the USPTO, the EPO and the Indian Patent Office, side by side.
- Form 18: request for examination in India
The Form 18 deadline, fees, expedited examination on Form 18A, and what happens if you miss it.
- How to respond to a First Examination Report (FER)
The FER deadline, common objections, how to structure the reply, and the hearing.
- Indian patent timeline, from filing to expiry
Each stage of an Indian patent with its statutory deadline, from filing to the end of the 20-year term.
- Types of patent searches, and which one you need
Patentability, freedom-to-operate, invalidity and landscape searches compared by purpose, timing, scope and deliverable.
- Patentability search: how to check novelty before you file
What counts as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102 and Art. 54 EPC, the grace period gap, search steps and how to read results.
- Freedom-to-operate search in the US and Europe
In-force claims only, legal status checks at the USPTO, EPO and UPC, FTO opinions after Halo, and design-arounds.
- Invalidity search: prior art to challenge a patent
IPR, PGR, EPO opposition and UPC revocation deadlines, prior art dates, standards documents and claim charts.
- Patent landscape analysis, step by step
Building a CPC and keyword dataset, cleaning families and names, the metrics that matter and the 18-month publication lag.
- Google Patents search guide
Search operators and fields, Boolean and proximity syntax, non-patent literature, and where Google Patents falls short of the official databases.
- The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), explained
How CPC symbols are built, CPC against IPC, the Y section, how to find the right class and how to search it in each database.
- Patent search Boolean operators and search strings
Boolean, proximity and truncation syntax compared across Patent Public Search, Espacenet, Google Patents and The Lens, with semantic search for contrast.
- The PCT application: timeline, fees and national phase
The international phase month by month, receiving Office and ISA fees in CHF, USD and EUR, national phase deadlines by office, and a deadline calculator.
- How much does a patent cost?
USPTO fees by entity size from filing to the last maintenance fee, what drives professional fees, EPO fees, and an estimator.
- How long does a patent last?
US utility and design terms, patent term adjustment and extension, terminal disclaimers, maintenance fee deadlines, Europe and India, with an expiry estimator.
- Can AI write a patent application?
What AI drafting does well and badly, the USPTO and EPO positions on AI tools, AI inventorship after 2025, and confidentiality.
- PCT national phase deadlines by country
30, 31 or more months: the national phase time limit at every office in WIPO's table, late-entry options and a deadline calculator.
- PCT search report, written opinion and Chapter II
How to read the international search report and written opinion, Article 19 amendments, informal comments, and when a Chapter II demand is worth filing.
- Pre-grant and post-grant opposition in India
Who can oppose, the grounds in Section 25, the deadlines and fees, Form 7A and Form 7, and how the Opposition Board and hearing work.
Patent fees in India: frequently asked questions
What is the government fee to file a patent in India?
₹1,600 for an individual, startup, small entity or educational institution, and ₹8,000 for any other applicant, when filed online on Form 1. That covers up to 30 pages and 10 claims; each extra page costs ₹160 / ₹800 and each extra claim ₹320 / ₹1,600. Filing on paper costs about 10% more.
How much does it cost to get a patent granted in India?
The minimum official fees from filing to grant are ₹5,600 for an individual, startup or small entity (filing ₹1,600 plus examination ₹4,000) and ₹28,000 for other applicants, for an application within 30 pages and 10 claims. Early publication, expedited examination, extensions and professional fees for drafting and prosecution are extra.
Does filing a provisional application cost more?
No. The provisional is filed on Form 1 and pays the normal filing fee. The complete specification that follows within 12 months is filed on Form 2 at no fee, unless it runs past 30 pages or 10 claims, when the extra-page and extra-claim fees apply.
Who qualifies for the lower patent fees?
Natural persons, startups recognised by DPIIT, small entities (micro, small and medium enterprises under the MSMED Act) and educational institutions. Startups, small entities and educational institutions claim the status on Form 28 with supporting proof; Form 28 has no fee. The lower fee applies only if every applicant qualifies.
What are the patent renewal fees in India?
Renewal fees are due every year from the 3rd year, counted from the filing date: ₹800 a year for years 3 to 6, ₹2,400 for years 7 to 10, ₹4,800 for years 11 to 15 and ₹8,000 for years 16 to 20 for individuals, startups and small entities (five times that for others). Paying at least 4 years in advance online gives a 10% reduction under rule 80(3).
What does expedited examination (Form 18A) cost?
₹8,000 for an individual, startup, small entity or educational institution and ₹60,000 for others, filed online only. Expedited examination is open to startups, small entities, women applicants, government bodies and a few other categories set out in rule 24C.
Did patent fees change in 2024?
The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 kept the filing, examination and renewal fees unchanged. They raised the post-grant opposition fee, introduced a fee for pre-grant opposition, added new extension fees, and added a 10% reduction for renewal fees paid at least 4 years in advance online.
Sources: The First Schedule fees (IP India); Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024, G.S.R. 211(E), 15 March 2024. This page is general information, not legal advice. Fees can change by notification, so confirm them on IP India before you pay.