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Real-life scenario · fictionalised
The startup that filed too late
A four-person hardware startup builds a water-testing device that gives a result in ninety seconds instead of a day. They demonstrate it at a large industry exhibition in Bengaluru, take twelve leads, and appear in two trade publications. Three months later, with a term sheet in hand, an investor asks about patents. They approach a patent attorney the following week.
What could have gone wrong, and how much of it is recoverable?
The disclosure
The exhibition was public and the device was demonstrated working. Unless that exhibition was one to which the Central Government had extended section 31 by notification, the demonstration is a public disclosure - and it is prior art against the startup's own application.
The two trade articles are separate disclosures with their own dates, and they are indexed and searchable, which makes them easy for an examiner or an opponent to find.
What the exceptions do and do not reach
India has no general grace period. Section 31 gives twelve months from the opening of a notified exhibition, or from a paper read before a learned society. A commercial trade fair is normally neither. Section 29(2) covers publication obtained from the applicant without consent - which does not describe a demonstration the team chose to give.
So the startup is not inside an exception. The disclosure counts.
What is still left
Two things, usually. First, what was actually made available? A demonstration shows what the device does; it may not disclose how the sensing chemistry works, the calibration method or the signal processing. Undisclosed subject matter can still support claims.
Second, jurisdiction. Grace periods differ. A disclosure fatal in India may not be fatal in every market the startup cares about - which can change where it is worth filing at all.
What should have happened
- Filed a properly drafted provisional before the exhibition - the specification, not just the concept.
- Kept a dated record of exactly what was shown, to whom, and what was not shown.
- Decided in advance which parts of the technology were to be demonstrated and which held back.
- Asked whether the exhibition had been notified under section 31, before assuming it had.
In India the filing has to come before the audience, not after the interest.
This scenario is a composite teaching example written by Ragulika IP. It does not describe any real client, application or matter, and any resemblance to a specific case is coincidental.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text
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Working out how much damage was done, and what is still available.
Thinking about filing?
Before anything is drafted, the useful work is establishing what is already public, what is genuinely yours, and what you can honestly claim.
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.