Startup firm under DPIIT and its advantages
“The advantages of obtaining a patent for your startup firm under DPIIT are cost savings, as certified startups pay only official fees for patent filing in India. Additionally, expedited examination requests save time in the patent process. The official patent cost of filing a patent in India by expedited route is ( filing fees ₹ 1,600+ early publication ₹ 2,500 + expedited examination ₹ 8,000) = ₹ 12,100 or (USD 145) “
Startup firm under DPIIT
“Startup” means (a) an entity in India recognized as a startup by the competent authority under Startup India initiative.
(b) In case of a foreign entity, an entity fulfilling the criteria for turnover and period of incorporation/registration as per Startup India Initiative and submitting declaration to that effect.
According to the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2016 startups were defined as
- entities which are working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property where more than five years have not been lapsed from the date of incorporation/registration with a maximum turnover of INR 25 crore per year.
- However, according to the Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2017, a startup can be any Indian entity recognized as a startup by the competent authority under the Startup India Initiative or a foreign entity that fulfills criteria for turnover and period of incorporation/registration as per Startup India Initiative.
Under Startup India Initiative a Startup fulfills the following criteria:
- incorporated as a private limited company or registered as a partnership firm or a limited liability partnership in India;
- incorporated or registered in India not prior to to ten years;
- turnover for any of the financial years since incorporation/ registration has not exceeded INR 100 crores;
- has not been formed by splitting up or reconstruction of a business that was already in existence; and
- working towards innovation, development or improvement of products or processes or services, or if it is a scalable business model with a high potential of employment generation or wealth creation.
For your business to qualify as start-up it should be working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property.
Cost benefits for startups under DIPP
to understand the cost benefits for startups, we need to refer to 2 important sections discussed before this
The major cost benefit is:
If you are certified as start-up by DPIIT link for details here , under Scheme for Facilitating Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) link for details here for Patent and Trademark registration, you don’t need to pay any professional fees for the Patent filing in India. You only need to pay official fees to the Government Patent Office. Fees for patent agents / attorneys are paid by Government not by you (the start-up)
So, what that means is you would require to pay only official fees for patent process that is ( filing patent application 1600 + request for expedited examination 8000) Hence when we compare it with normal route or ordinary patent application process which requires ( ₹35,000 to ₹52,000 ) as attorney fees for patent process, You would end up saving quite significant money in this case.
apart from cost benefits, it also has time benefit as discussed in detailed in previous section. If you are recognized as startup under DIPP, you can make the request for expedited examination using Form 18A which saves a lot of time in patent process when we compare it to normal route.
| Request For Expedited Examination Of Application For Patent | Form 18(A) (71 KB) |
Fees for expedited examination for startup or small entity = ₹ 8000
Video : How to Choose Patent Applicant in India Individual vs Company for faster Grant
What is the cost of patent registration in India?
Here is the short answer for the cost of the patent in India :
- Patent attorney fees for Patent drafting is ₹ 20,000 or (USD 360)
- total official fees for patents by expedited (fast route) ₹ 12,100 or (USD 145) ( this includes Filing fees ₹1600, Early publication ₹2500, Expedited (fast) examination ₹8000)
- If First Examination is Received – Patent attorney fees for responding to FER is ₹ 15000 or (USD 180)
- If the Hearing is required with the patent office – Patent attorney charges would be ₹ 15000 or (USD 180)
Cost, procedure and timeline for patent in India in 2025
Note: steps highlighted in Brown colour are either optional step or depends on case to case and are not mandatory to happen
| Sr. | Stages for Patent (links for more details) | Professional fees | Government Fees | Time required |
| 1 | How to go from Idea to Invention disclosure? Do I need patent agent of attorney Is my invention patentable ? | – | – | – |
| 2 | Signing Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) | – | – | 10 minutes to sign |
| 3 | Patentability / Novelty Search (Optional step) | ₹15,000 or (USD 170) | – | 5 days |
| 4 | Drafting Complete Patent Application | ₹30,000 or (USD 350) | – | 10 – 12 days |
| 5 | Filing patent application | ₹ 3,000 or (USD 35) | ₹ 1,600 or (USD 19) | 1 – 2 days |
| 6 | Publication of patent application | – | – | After 18 months |
| 7 | Early publication (Optional step) | ₹ 2500 or (USD 30) | 1 – 2 months | |
| 8 | Request For examination (Normal Route) | ₹ 4000 or (USD 48) | 2-3 Years | |
| 9 | Request For Expedited Examination Form 18A (Woman co-applicant, MSME or Startup firm*) (Optional step) | ₹ 8000 or (USD 96) | 8 to 9 months | |
| 10 | Drafting and Filing a response to the First Examination Report (FER) | ₹15,000 or (USD 170) | – | Drafting response 7-10 days |
| 11 | Attending Hearing with Patent office In Case hearing received from patent office | ₹20,000 or (USD 250) | – | depends on the government |
| 12 | Grant of patent or refusal | – | – | Depends on the pendency at government |
| Total (mandatory + Optionals) = | (₹45,000 to ₹83,000) or (USD 500 to US 925) | ₹ 12,550 or (USD 140) |
Note: Government fees mentioned are for Natural persons or Startups or Small entities or educational institutions
- Indian Patent Office, Govt. of India
- Patent Facilitator for Start-ups, Startup India Govt. of India
- Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication engineering.
- Author of multiple books on Patents and IPR including a best-selling book on “How to patent an idea in India” which has been selected as the “Memorable Business Book of 2018” by Amazon
- Books are included in the syllabus of Educational Institutions as textbook and reference book on subject of IPR and Patents
- For over 15 years, Prasad has helped protect the intellectual property rights (IPR) of more than 1800 clients, including individuals, entrepreneurs, and educational institutes. This includes patents, trademarks, designs, and copyrights.
- links to all videos - August 6, 2025