IP India guide
The Indian Patent Journal, explained
The Indian Patent Journal, officially the Official Journal of the Patent Office, is published every Friday by the Indian Patent Office. It is where patent applications become public and where grants are announced. Here is what each issue contains and how to find a specific application in it.
Two ways to use the journal
- Read an issue: download the weekly PDFs from IP India's journal portal.
- Find an application: search by number, title, or applicant across every published Indian application at once, with no PDFs to open.
What each weekly issue contains
- Early publication
- Applications published ahead of the 18-month date because the applicant filed Form 9. Listed separately for the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai offices.
- Publication after 18 months
- Applications published automatically under Section 11A once 18 months have passed from the priority date. Publication opens the window for pre-grant opposition.
- Weekly issued FER
- Applications for which a First Examination Report was issued that week. Useful for tracking competitors' applications as they move into examination.
- Grant of patents
- Patents granted that week, published under Section 43(2). The one-year window for post-grant opposition runs from this publication.
Issues also carry other notices on patent proceedings. To see where a single application stands, use the Indian patent application status guide.
Indian Patent Journal: frequently asked questions
What is the Indian Patent Journal?
It is the Official Journal of the Patent Office, published by the Indian Patent Office every Friday under Section 145 of the Patents Act, 1970. It records published patent applications, grants, and other patent proceedings, and has been published only in electronic form since 2005.
Where can I download the Indian Patent Journal?
Every issue is available free as PDF files on IP India's journal portal (search.ipindia.gov.in/IPOJournal). Each weekly issue is split into several parts, one per section and office.
How do I search the Indian Patent Journal for a specific application?
The journal PDFs are not searchable across issues. Instead, search the application number, title, or applicant in PatentAssist.ai's free Indian patent search, which shows the publication date and the full text. In Advanced search you can filter by publication date or grant date to list everything published in a given week.
When is an Indian patent application published in the journal?
18 months from the priority date or filing date, whichever is earlier. If the applicant requests early publication on Form 9, it is normally published within about a month of the request.
Why does publication in the journal matter?
Once an application is published, its contents become prior art, the applicant gains provisional rights from the publication date, and anyone can file a pre-grant opposition until the patent is granted.
More on searching IP India data: Indian patent search.