Foreign Filing Licence in India - What Every Applicant Must Know
Before filing a patent application outside India for an invention developed in India, prior approval from the Indian Patent Office (Controller of Patents) is mandatory under Section 39 of the Patents Act.
Who needs it
Any person resident in India who wishes to file a patent application in a foreign jurisdiction for an invention conceived or developed in India, without first filing in India.
The alternative route
File first in India, then wait six weeks. If no secrecy directions are issued within that period, you may proceed with foreign filing without a separate FFL - the Indian filing itself serves as deemed permission.
When to apply for an express FFL
When you need to file abroad before six weeks have elapsed from an Indian filing, or when filing internationally without any prior Indian application.
Timelines
Express FFL requests are typically decided within 21 days.
Penalty for non-compliance
Filing abroad without a required FFL can result in the Indian application being treated as abandoned, and may expose foreign applications to validity challenges.
FFL compliance is assessed as part of our filing workflow at the point of invention disclosure - before any application is filed.
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