India: New patent application numbering formats introduced

[EPO / Asia Info]

Dear users,

On 31 December 2015, the Indian Patent Office (IPO) published an office order introducing the new patent application numbering format with the effect from 1 January 2016. The new system will enable the identification of 9 types of applications including divisional applications or patents of additions. The city code abbreviation of the responsible Patent Office is no longer directly displayed in the application number. Instead the city code has been replaced with one digit ranging from 1 to 4 corresponding to 4 Patent Offices in India.

Patent applications filed after 1 January 2016 will be assigned a number according to the new numbering system. Applications filed before 1 January 2016 are also planned to be converted into the new numbering system, however for the time being old application numbers are still being kept and recognized.

Furthermore and also with the effect from 1 January 2016, 2 different types of examination request number formats are being assigned allowing for differentiation between the regular and express request for examination.

Please see below the new patent application number format and the examination request number formats.

New patent application number format with the effect of 1 January 2016:

yyyyJTnnnnnn

- four digits for year of filing (yyyy)
- one digit for the jurisdiction of the Indian Patent Offices (J)
- one digit for type of application (T)
- six digits for continuous running serial numbers for all Patent Offices in India

J = jurisdictions of Indian Patent Offices:

- 1 = Delhi
- 2 = Mumbai
- 3 = Kolkata
- 4 = Chennai

T = Type of application:

- 1 = Ordinary Application
- 2 = Ordinary-Divisional Application
- 3 = Ordinary-Patent of Addition Application
- 4 = Convention Application
- 5 = Convention-Divisional Application
- 6 = Convention-Patent of Addition Application
- 7 = PCT National Phase Application
- 8 = PCT National Phase-Divisional Application
- 9 = PCT National Phase Patent of Addition Application

(Theoretical example for ordinary application filed in Delhi as first application in the year 2016: 201611000001; applications filed in 2016 having the new number formats will be only published and visible in InPASS database 18 months from the priority or filing date)

New number formats for examination requests with the effect of 1 January 2016:

R/yyyy/J/nnnnnn
X/yyyy/J/nnnnnn

- one letter for type of application (R = regular examination request, X = express examination request)
- four digits for year of filing (yyyy)
- one digit for the jurisdiction of the Indian Patent Offices (J)
- six digits for continuous running serial numbers for all Patent Offices in India

To find out more about the new number formats, please visit the official IPO’s publication:
http://www.ipindia.nic.in/OfficeCircula ... er2015.pdf

In case of questions related to this topic, you can post them here or you can contact us directly at asiainfo@epo.org

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