The latest step in the efforts of the Controller General in upgrading the infrastructural facilities in the Indian Patent office is the online availability of information on the application status for Indian patent applications. The electronic revamping of the information retrieval system has benefited the agents and other stakeholders in more ways than one. Not only has it averted the physical difficulties in procuring the documents from the Patent office, but also had led to saving of time and money for the users. The requirement of fees for physical documents as well as the long time and resources spent in procedural compliance used to delay the decision making. Moreover, the hassles involved in extracting information from the Patent office had led to proliferation of corrupt practices and was affecting the transparency and integrity of the system.

The Indian Patent Information Retrieval System (IPIRS) is the Public Search Gateway on the Patent office website, under which, now the tab for application status search is provided. This would facilitate the retrieval of information regarding pending applications online, ultimately aiding the prosecution exercise. Till now, the information available in the public search related to granted patents, published patent applications and decisions and orders of the Controller. Under the application search, the user has to enter the application no., upon which, the details pertaining to applicant name, date of filing, priority date, title of the invention, pre- grant publication date, post grant publication date, PCT international filing date and status are displayed. The tab has started to work, though information is still being populated and it may take some more time to perform robustly.

The availability of application status online is advantageous not only in prosecution of a patent, but also in lodging pre and post-grant oppositions. While working on filing the pre-grant, if the patent is granted, that is reflected in the status, the documents can be modified accordingly. Moreover, the availability of specs in a text searchable format aids in taking timely decisions on prosecution. The streamlining of administrative functioning is leading to tangible results like efficiency in terms of time and costs, stepping up of transparency and robustness.

As compared to the USPTO, however, the IPO does not currently provide the drawings or illustrations with the specifications. Again, since the complete specification in the pre-grant stage and the examination report are not published, they are not available in the IPIRS.