IP Intelligence › Ask a Question › I have a PCT application. When and how do I enter India?
Guided answer
I have a PCT application. When and how do I enter India?
A PCT application is not a worldwide patent. To get an Indian patent you must enter the Indian national phase within 31 months of the earliest priority date.
Take advice today. Treat the 31-month deadline as absolute.
Urgent - a deadline or loss of rights may be close
Please review this with an advocate, patent attorney or registered patent agent before you act. Do not rely on this answer alone.
The Delhi High Court held in 2026 that national phase timelines are mandatory. Whether the general extension power in rule 138, as rewritten in 2024, can ever reach this deadline is not settled.
- Do not assume a cure exists, and do not delay other countries while you find out.
- The PCT application was published around 18 months from priority, so a fresh Indian application for the same subject matter will face it as prior art.
- Ask whether any later, genuinely new developments could support a new filing.
Read next
Educational guidance only - not legal advice. Do not rely on it. It cannot see your documents, your dates or the prior art, and those usually decide the answer. Laws, rules, forms, fees and deadlines change. Please review your situation with a qualified advocate, patent attorney or registered patent agent before you act or decide not to act.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.