Skip to main content

While PCT Application is a beneficial tool for patent applicants planning to obtain protection outside India, they ought to be careful in cases of filing first in India because if they don’t apply for permission to file outside India prior to the first PCT filing, they may be contravening section 39 of the Indian Patent Act.

Indian Patent law has come a long way since the Indian Patents and Designs Act was introduced for the first time in 1911 to protect the Intellectual Property of innovators in India. With globalisation of the Indian economy, the protection of intellectual property internationally has become an integral part of the overall business plan of Indian intellectual property owners. India became a signatory to the Paris Convention in 1998 and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) benefits also became available to applicants in India allowing filing of International Patent Applications or PCT applications as they are commonly known.

Authored by Neeti Wilson.

This article was published in Legal Era September 2014.

Read more

Most Recent

News & Insights

VIEW ALL
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
•
Oct 06, 2026

A D2C brand can begin with little more than a name, a logo, a product page and an Instagram account. Then something changes. Customers begin recognising

Your Brand is More Than a Name: Brand Protection for D2C Startups in India
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
•
Oct 02, 2026

A traditional craft can travel far beyond the place that gave it its name. The harder question is whether its name, reputation and identity can travel

Who Owns a Tradition: Understanding Geographical Indications Through India’s Artisan Stories
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
•
Sep 29, 2026

A person’s identity was once understood as something inseparable from the person. In the digital economy, it can also become an asset: a name that

Right to Publicity in India: From Celebrity Image to AI-Generated Identity
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
•
Sep 25, 2026

India’s startup ecosystem is becoming increasingly innovation-led, and the country’s intellectual property numbers offer an interesting glimpse into

India’s IP Numbers Tell a Bigger Story  About Startup Founders in India