The Indian Patents Act of 1970 grants the right of patent over an invention that is a new product or process, involving an inventive step, and is capable of industrial application. By 'inventive step', it is meant that it should not be obvious to a person skilled in that art.

India is a Paris Convention country and also a signatory to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Types of patent applications granted in India are - Ordinary Application, Convention Application, PCT International Application, PCT National Phase Application, Patent of Addition, and Divisional Application. A PCT application is a single International patent application for all contracting states. It establishes a common filing date for all the jurisdictions. However, there is no concept of an International Patent. The filing of a PCT application is followed by a 'national phase', where the application is either granted or refused in each of the contracting nations. The term of a patent in India is 20 years from the date of filing of the application, subject to the payment of renewal fees, after which the invention falls in the public realm.

The inventor (or any authorized person being the assignee or legal representative of the inventor) can make an application for patent rights over an invention, at the appropriate Patent Office in India. The Patent Office will not publish the details of specification and drawings of the patent, unless it receives a request for examination by the applicant. A First Examination Report (FER) is issued thereafter. A response to the objections contained in the FER needs to be filed within 6 months from the date of the FER. A patent application can be opposed by a third party both before grant (pre-grant opposition) and/or after grant (post-grant opposition), depending upon the stage of the patent.