IP Intelligence › In Simple Words › National phase
In simple words
National phase
Also called: National phase entry
This is the deadline that ends more international filing programmes than any other, and it does so silently.
- In simple words
- The stage at which a PCT application is taken into an individual country's system. In India the time limit is thirty-one months from the priority date.
- Think of it as
- The day the international application has to become an Indian one.
- Why it matters
- Treat the thirty-one months as absolute. Indian practice and recent Delhi High Court authority have treated national phase timelines as mandatory, and although the general extension power in rule 138 was rewritten in 2024, whether it reaches this deadline is not settled. Planning on an extension here is not a plan.
- A simple example
- A PCT application with a priority date of 10 June 2024 must enter the Indian national phase by around 10 January 2027. If it does not, the application is treated as withdrawn so far as India is concerned.
- Common mistake
- Assuming a patent agent's error will excuse the delay. Indian courts have not been sympathetic to that argument.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Rules, 2003, as amended (e-version updated to 15 March 2024) — Official IP India text
- The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 - G.S.R. 211(E), 15 March 2024 — Gazette text via WIPO Lex
Related
PCT
A treaty procedure that lets you file one international application that has the effect of a filing in every contracting state, and then decide later which countries…
The thirty-one months that ended the case
If a PCT application does not enter the Indian national phase within thirty-one months of the priority date, it is treated as withdrawn so far as India is concerned.…
Patent deadlines can always be extended if you pay.
Some can. Several of the most important cannot, or their extendability is unsettled - and an application that misses one is simply treated as abandoned or withdrawn.
Keep going.
Every explanation here links to the ones next to it. Follow the thread rather than the menu.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.