On July 29, 2025, the Indian Patent Office (IPO) released the Guidelines for Examination of Computer-Related Inventions (CRI 2025 Guidelines).
These guidelines have been finalised through two draft versions, initially released in March 2025 and revised in June 2025, following extensive stakeholder consultations across India. They supersede the earlier CRI 2017 Guidelines to address the latest technological advances in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), Blockchain, Quantum Computing, and Cloud Computing, providing detailed examination procedures for patents, including numerous illustrative examples clarifying patentable claims versus excluded subject matter under the law.
Here are the key highlights
- Reliance on case laws: The CRI 2025 Guidelines incorporate 19 case laws that offer different perspectives on dealing with CRIs, with most of these cases being from recent years, reflecting evolving judicial interpretation. Notable among these are landmark decisions such as Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC v The Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs and Ferid Allani v Union of India & Ors. Several other cases have been included to highlight the importance of evaluating the claims based on whether they involve a “technical effect” and/or “technical contribution”.
- Clarification on allowability of system claims and method claims: The CRI 2025 Guidelines clarify that both system and method claims are allowed in independent format, provided they are fully supported by the patent specification. To reinforce this, the Guidelines include a non-exhaustive list of examples in Annexure I, illustrating allowable/non-allowable claimed subject matter under each category of Section 3(k) of the Patents Act, 1970 - computer programme per se, algorithm, mathematical method and business method. The examples provide detailed analysis to aid in better understanding.
- Dealing with inventions related to emerging technologies: The Guidelines adopt a detailed, technology-specific and example-driven approach to examining CRIs related to AI, ML, DL, Blockchain and Quantum Computing, outlining various scenarios and corresponding disclosure requirements for these technologies. However, the inclusion of such detailed and extensive disclosure requirements may raise the patentability threshold for such technologies. Applicants may have to bear this in mind while drafting the patent applications.
The CRI 2025 Guidelines aim to further streamline the examination and allowance of CRI-related patent applications in India. Given that CRI constitutes the largest proportion of overall patent filings in India, this appears to be a positive step. It will be interesting to see how the IPO will implement it for the disclosure requirement and how the applicants/stakeholders will respond to such requirements.