Before we begin with the following post, warm wishes for a prosperous new year from the entire team of BananaIP. In 2015, we tried to provide you with a variety of blogs and articles relating to every aspect of intellectual property. In 2016 also we resolve to carry forward our endeavor to bring forth the latest happenings in the world of intellectual property.
In this article, we will discuss about the latest change that has been introduced by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks. This change is regarding the format of the numbering system of Patent Applications as well as Request for Examination that are to be filed in the various Patent Offices across the country. This change has been implemented for all applications filed since the 1st of January 2016.
Lets peek into the new numbering formats.
NEW SYSTEM OF NUMBERING PATENT APPLICATIONS IN INDIA:
FORMAT: YYYYJTNNNNNN
Where,
- “YYYY” denotes the Year of Filing the application
- “J” denotes the Jurisdiction under which the application is filed. ”J” will vary as 1 if the application is filed in Delhi, 2 for Mumbai, 3 for Kolkata and 4 for applications filed in the Chennai patent office.
- “T” indicates the Type of Application that is filed. “T” will vary as follows:
- 1 for ordinary application
- 2 for Ordinary Divisional
- 3 for ordinary Patent of Addition
- 4 for Convention
- 5 for Convention- Divisional
- 6 for Convention –Patent of Addition
- 7 for PCT NP
- 8 for PCT NP Divisional
- 9 for PCT NP – Patent of Addition
- “NNNNNN” represents a continuous six-digit serial number which is applicable in case of all patent offices in India.
The “NNNNNN” series of applications shall be unique and are to be incremented in proper sequence for all the four patent offices in order of their filing. The patent application number should also be accompanied by the date of application in the following format:
YYYY/MM/DD
Where,
- “YYYY” denotes the year of filing
- “MM” denotes Month
- “DD” denotes month of filing
NEW NUMBERING SYSTEM FOR REQUEST FOR EXAMINATION:
- Request for Examination u/r 24B(1)(i)(Normal):
FORMAT: RYYYYJNNNNNN
Where-
- “R” denotes Request For Examination u/r 24B(1)(i)
- “YYYY” denotes four digit Year of Filing the application
- “J” denotes Jurisdiction for Patent Application against which Request of examination has been Filed
- “NNNNNN” Denotes 6 digit common continuous running serial number applicable for all Patent offices in India
- Request for Examination u/r 20 (4)(ii)(Express):
FORMAT: XYYYYJNNNNNN
Where,
- “X” denotes Request for Examination u/r 20 (4) (ii)
- “YYYY” denotes four digit fixed length Year of Filing
- “J” denotes Jurisdiction of Patent Application against which Request has been filed
- “NNNNNN” denotes six digit fixed length common continuous running serial number applicable for all Patent offices across India.
Both the SERIAL NUMBERS u/r 24B (1) (i) and u/r 20 (4) (ii) shall be common and shall be accompanied by the date of request of examination in the following format:
YYYY/MM/DD
Where,
- “YYYY” DENOTES “Year of Filing”
- “MM” denotes “Month of Filing”
- “DD” denotes “Date of Filing”
These are the new formats that have been introduced across all patent offices in India. The main aim for bringing these changes is to attain uniformity in accessibility and processing of patent applications in all patent offices across India.
It should be noted that application numbers and request for examination numbers, that have already been allotted, shall continue to be maintained and recognized till they are fully converted as per the new numbering system.
The official notification from the patent office can be accessed from here.
Authored by Aniruddha Doss
Contributed with the support of the Patents Division of BananaIP Counsels.
For patents related queries please write to us on contact@bananaip.com .
