14. Startup firm under DPIIT and its advantages

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 30,000 to 45,000 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 PatentForm 18(A)  (71 KB)

Fees for expedited examination for startup or small entity = Rs. 8000

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 ₹ 30,000 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)

The cost for Patent in table format :

Note: steps highlighted in Orange color 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 FeesTime required 
1How to go from Idea to Invention disclosure?  Do I need patent agent of attorney Is my invention patentable ?–––
2Signing Non-Disclosure Agreement  (NDA)––10 minutes to sign
3Patentability / Novelty Search  (Optional step)₹ 15,000
or (USD 180)		–3 – 5 days
4Drafting Complete Patent Application ₹  30,000
or (USD 360)		–10 – 12 days
5Filing patent application –₹ 1,600
or (USD 19)		1 – 2 days
6Publication of patent application ––After 18 months
7Early publication (Optional step)₹ 2500
or (USD 30)		1 – 2 months
8Request For examination (Normal Route)₹ 4000
or (USD 48)		2-3 Years
9Request For examination(Expedited, with a female as applicant or  co-applicant,) (Optional step)₹ 8000
or (USD 96)		8 to 9 months
10Drafting and Filing a response to the First Examination Report (FER), In Case you receive any objection from the patent office (government)₹ 15,000
or (USD 180)		–Drafting response 7-10 days
11Hearing In Case you receive any hearing from patent office (government)₹ 15,000
or (USD 180)		–depends on the government
12Grant of patent or refusal ––Depends on the pendency at government

Note: Government fees mentioned are for Natural persons or Startups or Small entities or educational institutions

Prasad Karhad
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