Indian Patent Office (IPO) has now started granting patents under expedited examination system (Rule 24C of the Patent Amendments Rule 2016) within 9 to 12 months.

One such patent granted is IN2885091 for “A PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF APIXABAN“. A request for expedited examination was filed on 24th October 2016 and the same was converted into an expedited request on 21st March 2017. A patent has been granted to Optimus Drugs Private Limited within 9 months of filing of request for examination and 4 months of converting it into an expedited request, on 12th July 2017. The other factual details are as follows:-

• Request for examination: 24th October 2016
• Request for expedited examination: 21st March 2017
• First Examination report issued on: 31st March 2017
• Response to examination report filed on: 4th May 2017
• Hearing attended: 23rd June 2017
• Written submissions filed: 3rd July 2017