Indian IP Docketing: Every Statutory Deadline (TM, Patent, Design, GI) in One Table

Explainer · IP Docketing · Last verified October 2026

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

An IP docket in India fails in one of two ways: a deadline is missed, or a deadline is tracked with the wrong rule behind it. Both cost real rights, because many Indian IP deadlines cannot be revived. This page puts the core statutory deadlines for trade marks, patents, designs and geographical indications in one table, each with its Section, Rule and Form, so you can check what your software or your spreadsheet must track. Last verified October 2026.

01Why Indian IP deadlines are easy to miss

Indian IP deadlines are easy to miss because they sit in four different Acts, each with its own Rules, Forms and clock. A trade mark has a 10 year term, a patent has a 20 year term with yearly renewals, a design has 10 years plus 5, and a geographical indication (GI) has 10 years. Nothing links them together.

The rules keep changing

The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 cut the time to request examination to 31 months from the earliest priority date for applications filed on or after 15 March 2024. They also changed Form 27 from a yearly filing to one filing for every three financial years. A docket built on the old numbers will quietly give wrong dates.

Different clocks start from different events

Some periods run from the filing date, some from the priority date, some from the date of publication in a journal, and some from the date an order or report is issued. A docket that stores only one date per matter cannot track all of them.

Missed dates are often final

Some periods can be extended by a request and a fee. Others cannot be condoned at all. For example, an application can be lost if a response is not filed in time, and a patent can lapse if an annual renewal is missed beyond the grace period.

The risk in IP docketing is not the deadline you know about. It is the deadline you track with the wrong rule, the wrong start date, or the old number.

02What an IP docket must track

A good IP docket for India tracks four things for every matter, not only the final date.

• The trigger date: filing date, priority date, grant date, journal date, or the date of an office action.
• The rule behind the date: the Section, Rule and Form, so a reviewer can check it against the Act.
• The extension and grace position: whether time can be extended, by how much, and at what cost.
• Third party events: a conflicting mark published in the Trade Marks Journal, a hearing notice, or an opposition filed against you.

The master table below gives the first three for the main deadlines. The fourth needs a live watch on the registry and the courts, which is a different job from a static table.

03The master table of Indian IP statutory deadlines

This table lists the main statutory deadlines by right. Always confirm the current text of the Act and Rules before you rely on any date for a live matter. Last verified October 2026.

Two more patent dates matter for a full docket: a convention application must be filed within 12 months of the first filing abroad (Section 135), and PCT national phase entry in India falls at 31 months from the priority date. Both are tracked in the same way as the rows above.

04Patent deadlines in detail

The patent deadlines that change most often are the request for examination and Form 27, so check those first.

31 month request for examination

For applications filed on or after 15 March 2024, the request for examination must be made within 31 months from the earliest priority date (it was 48 months earlier). The request is filed on Form 18. If you have older applications in the docket, check which period applies to each one, because the old and new rules can sit side by side in one portfolio.

Three year Form 27

Form 27 is the statement of working of a patent under Section 146(2) and Rule 131. After the 2024 amendment it is filed once for every period of three financial years, starting from the financial year after the one in which the patent was granted, and within six months of the end of that period. An extension of up to three months is possible on a request, so the practical clock is short but not fixed.

FER response and the six month window

After the First Examination Report, the applicant gets six months to put the application in order. A three month extension can be requested with the fee. Docket both dates, the base date and the outer date, and show them as different alerts.

Annual renewal

A patent lasts 20 years from the filing date and needs a renewal fee every year, starting from the end of the second year. Renewal is made on Form 4. Missed renewals have a grace period with an extension fee, and after that the patent can lapse.

05Trade mark, design and GI deadlines

For trade marks, the two clocks that matter most are opposition and renewal.

Trade mark opposition and renewal

A notice of opposition under Section 21 must be filed on Form TM-O within four months of the date of the journal in which the mark was advertised. The applicant then has two months from receipt of the notice to send a counter-statement. A registration lasts 10 years under Section 25. Renewal is made on Form TM-R, and the window opens one year before expiry. If the date passes, a grace period of six months applies with a surcharge, and restoration is possible within one year of expiry. Mark a TM status in your docket using the terms in the trade mark status codes glossary.

Design 10 plus 5

A registered design has copyright for 10 years from the date of registration under Section 11 of the Designs Act, 2000. It can be extended for a second period of five years if an application is made to the Controller before the ten years end. The total is 15 years, and there is no further extension.

GI 10 years, renewable

Under Section 18 of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, a GI registration is for ten years and can be renewed for ten years each time. The registered proprietor or an authorised user can apply. An authorised user registration is separate from the GI itself, so each needs its own entry in the docket.

Copyright is different

Copyright registration sits with a separate office (the Copyright Office, copyright.gov.in), and copyright is not covered in the table above. Copyright disputes still appear in courts, so a docket should at least watch the court side.

06How to build your docket

Build the docket around the table, then decide how much automation you need.

If you hold a small portfolio, a well kept sheet using the dates above, checked against the Act each quarter, can work. If you hold hundreds of matters, you need software that stores trigger dates, shows the rule behind each alert, and handles extension and grace dates. If your matters also go to court, choose a tool that sees both the registry and the court, because an opposition or infringement suit is a new deadline that no filing calendar will show you.

Other tools suit other jobs, and we say so openly. Global multi-country docketing and annuities are the strength of Anaqua, Clarivate and Dennemeyer. Very high volume specialist IP firm docketing is the strength of Iolite and JSK. If your filings are mainly US or Canada, Alt Legal is built for that. For AI prior art search, look at PatSnap, Questel and IPRally. For mass marketplace takedowns, look at Red Points and Corsearch. For technology transfer office lifecycle work, look at Wellspring and Inteum.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

A docket table handles the dates you can predict. The dates you cannot predict, a conflicting mark in the journal, an opposition, or an infringement suit, arrive through the courts, and that is the side Claw watches. Claw tracks cases, orders and hearings across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, searches 30 crore+ judgments with results in under 5 seconds, and covers the Supreme Court from 1950 and the High Courts from 1990. So the moment a matter on your docket reaches a court, you can find it by party or advocate name and read how similar disputes were decided.

Claw does not use customer documents to train AI models. Create a FREE Claw account to track your IP matters in court and research judgments by party or advocate name. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

Primary sources used for the table. Check these before you rely on any date:

• IP India (Acts, Rules, Forms and fees): ipindia.gov.in
• The Trade Marks Rules, 2017 on WIPO Lex: wipo.int
• Section 11, The Designs Act, 2000: indiankanoon.org
• Section 18, the GI Act, 1999: indiankanoon.org
• Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024: see the notified text on ipindia.gov.in
• Copyright Office: copyright.gov.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This page is general information, not legal advice. Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change, so confirm each date with the current Act and Rules.

09Frequently asked questions