The Indian Patent Office operates from four branches i.e. Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai. The Kolkata patent office serves as the headquarters. Unlike many other countries with a single central office, India operates from these four locations. All patent-related procedures are handled across these offices.
A patent application must be filed at the appropriate Patent Office based on the territorial jurisdiction, determined by the following criteria (in order of priority, as per Rule 4 of the Patents Rules, 2003):
- The place of residence, domicile, or principal place of business of the applicant (or the first-named applicant in case of joint applicants), or
- The place where the invention actually originated, or
- For foreign applicants (with no residence, domicile, or place of business in India), the address for service in India provided by the applicant (typically the address of their duly appointed Indian patent agent).
Additionally, any divisional application (under Section 16 of the Patents Act, 1970) must be filed at the same appropriate office as the original (parent) application.
The current territorial jurisdictions of the patent offices are:
- Mumbai: Covers the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, and Chhattisgarh, along with the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
- Delhi (New Delhi branch): Covers the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, along with the National Capital Territory of Delhi, and the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.
- Chennai: Covers the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, along with the Union Territories of Puducherry (Pondicherry) and Lakshadweep.
- Kolkata: Covers the rest of India including states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Once filed, the jurisdiction of the appropriate office is generally not changed. However, the Controller may reallocate an application to any of the four offices if it is deemed necessary.
All applicants (including foreign ones) and their patent agents must provide an address for service in India, which should include a postal address, an email address, and a mobile number registered in India. This address is used for all official communications and proceedings under the Patents Act and Rules.
