Vakil Help Desk News: the Supreme Court has issued notice on a plea asking whether a patent's 20-year term should be counted from the date of grant, or extended, when the Patent Office takes years to decide the application. The matter is listed next on 26 October 2026.
Vakil Help Desk News, IPR. The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a question that matters to every patent applicant in India: should the 20-year life of a patent be cut short when the Patent Office takes years to decide the application?
A bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe issued notice on a special leave petition in Gunjan Sinha @ Kanishk Sinha & Anr. v. Union of India & Anr., and requested Advocate Kruttika Vijay to assist the Court as amicus curiae.
The background
The patent application in this case was filed on 2 May 2005 and granted on 28 December 2012, after nearly seven years. Section 53 of the Patents Act, 1970 fixes a patent's term at 20 years from the date of filing, not from the date of grant. On that basis the patent would ordinarily have expired in May 2025, leaving the owner only about twelve and a half years of protection after grant.
The petitioner, appearing in person, argues that the term should run from the date of grant, or be extended, to make up for the years lost to delay. The petition refers to the "Patent Term Adjustment" system in the United States, under which certain delays by the patent office can extend a patent's term.
What the Calcutta High Court held
The Calcutta High Court declined to create such an adjustment through a court order. In its view, Section 53, which fixes the term, and Section 11A(7), which deals with an applicant's rights between publication and grant, operate in different fields, and a new compensation mechanism would need legislation, which a High Court cannot direct under Article 226.
Why it matters
- Indian law currently has no provision to extend a patent's term for delays at the Patent Office.
- A ruling in favour of the petitioner, or a call for a legislative change, could affect patents across technology, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.
- The matter is listed next on 26 October 2026. Vakil Help Desk will update this news after the hearing.
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What this means for you
Advocate Deepak Kumar of Vakil Help Desk advises: until the Supreme Court decides, the law stays the same — your patent runs 20 years from the filing date, however long the Patent Office takes, so every month of delay comes out of your protection. File the request for examination (Form 18) early instead of waiting for the 31-month deadline. If you are a startup or small entity, consider expedited examination (Form 18A). Reply to examination reports promptly. Your rights start from publication, but you can sue for infringement only after grant.