IP Intelligence › Myths › The working statement is optional paperwork.
Patent myth
“The working statement is optional paperwork.”
Furnishing information under section 146 is a statutory obligation on patentees and licensees, and failure or false information now attracts monetary penalties under an adjudication procedure.
Since 2024 the statement is furnished once in respect of every period of three financial years, within six months of the end of each period. Moving from annual to triennial has made it much easier to forget. The Jan Vishwas Act 2023 removed imprisonment and put monetary penalties and a separate adjudication process in its place, in force for these provisions from 1 August 2024.
Statements of working are public and feed into compulsory licence applications, where non-working in India is a statutory ground.
Sources & further reading
Related
Statement of working
A statement filed on Form 27 telling the Patent Office whether a granted patent has been worked in India, and if not, why not.
The working statement nobody filed
India requires patentees and licensees to tell the Patent Office whether a patent has been worked in India. The obligation moved from annual to once every three fina…
Working statements moved from yearly to once every three financial years - and the first deadline is close
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.