IP Intelligence › Myths › It was granted in another country, so India will grant it to
Patent myth
“It was granted in another country, so India will grant it too.”
Each office applies its own law. Indian subject-matter law differs materially, particularly on business methods, methods of treatment and new forms of known substances.
Section 3 has no exact counterpart elsewhere. Section 3(d) imposes an efficacy test on new forms of known substances that most systems do not have. The business method exclusion is absolute in India. And Indian inventive step expressly requires technical advance or economic significance. A US or European grant is useful evidence about the prior art, and no more.
Prosecution strategies copied from a parent case abroad, applied to objections that do not exist there.
Sources & further reading
- Section 3, Patents Act 1970 - what are not inventions — Official IP India section text
Related
The invention is new - and still not patentable
Indian law has a filter that operates completely independently of novelty and inventive step. Section 3 lists things that are not inventions at all - and something c…
Section 3(d)
A provision that treats a new form of a known substance as unpatentable unless it differs significantly in properties **with regard to efficacy**, and also bars the …
Section 3(k)
Section 3(k) excludes a mathematical method, a business method, a computer programme **per se**, and algorithms from being inventions.
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.
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.