The Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the Government of India have started a scheme to provide financial support to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) and Technology Start-Up units for international patent filing. This has been done to encourage indigenous innovation and capture growth opportunities in the areas of IP, information technology and electronics.
Entities eligible to apply include registered Indian micro, small and medium enterprises, enterprises engaged in the manufacture or production of goods with investment less than 10 crore and technology incubation enterprises registered as companies.
Financial Support
The scheme will cover up to 50% of the total patent cost or Rs. 15 lakhs whichever is lesser. The patent processing costs including attorneys’ Fees, patent office filing fees, examination fees, patent search cost, additional cost for entering National Phase upto grant/issue will be covered by the scheme.
Criteria to be fulfilled
- Applicants should have already filed a patent application for the said invention in India
- The invention must be in the Electronics/ICT technology domain.
- The application must be accompanied by prior art search report from a International Search authority/ registered attorney firm or any other agency of repute.
- The patent applications are to be processed through a registered patent attorney in a patent attorney firm having at least 5 years experience in handling international patent applications.
- The applicant can apply for the support at any stage of international filing. However, reimbursement will only be applicable to expenditures incurred subsequent to the date on which application has been cleared for support.
Filing International Patents
The applicant would need to furnish justification for his choice of route and of country / countries in which he desires to file a patent application.
Documents required
- Application Form (giving requisite information about the applicant and the invention)
- Reimbursement Details (As per the format in the application form)
- Patent Search Report
- Product brochure (if any)
- Copy of Registration of the applicant industry
- Copy of official filing with Indian Patent Office
- Latest Annual Report of the Company.
- Proof of DSIR recognition of in-house R&D in industry (preferred) / Proof of Govt. Supported incubation Enterprise
- Declaration (as given in the application form)
The application form and details are available on http://www.mit.gov.in. We would like to thank Naren Thappeta for bringing this information to our notice.
