Patent Filing Reimbursement Scheme (Goa IT Policy)

What is the Goa Patent Filing Reimbursement Scheme?

Patent Filing Reimbursement Scheme is an incentive of the Department of Information Technology, Government of Goa, framed at clause 6.B.9 of the Information Technology Policy 2018. Its stated objective is to provide patent filing reimbursement to the eligible Information Technology units in the state of Goa.

The policy sets out the entitlement in one sentence: all New and Existing Units located within Goa shall be eligible for a total reimbursement of up to Rs 25 lakh per unit for the expenses incurred towards filing of patents during the policy period, and that incentive is provided in the form of reimbursement of up to Rs 2.5 lakh for every successful domestic patent and up to Rs 5 lakh for every successful international patent.

Key features

• Up to Rs 2.5 lakh per successful domestic patent.
• Up to Rs 5 lakh per successful international patent.
• Overall cap of Rs 25 lakh per unit.
• Covers expenses incurred towards filing of patents during the policy period.
• Available to all New Units and Existing Units located within Goa.
• Routed through the state's single-window system, with the supported Committee deciding.
• Approvals and payments committed within 90 working days.

The scheme sits inside a broader policy aim. Goa's Information Technology Policy 2018 was written to "create and nurture a globally competitive Information Technology ecosystem that powers the state's economic growth, and firmly establishes Goa as a preferred destination for investment in high-end software products and service capabilities", and a patent portfolio is the ordinary measure of a software products business as distinct from a services business.

Who is eligible and who is not eligible?

Your unit can claim if:

• It is a New Unit or an Existing Unit located within Goa, and a unit of the IT industry as the policy defines it: development, production and services relating to IT products, IT software, IT services and ITeS.
• It has incurred expenses towards filing of patents during the policy period.
• It has secured a successful domestic or international patent, which is what the per-patent reimbursement figures attach to.
• Its employees of Goan origin or Goan graduates have been on the payroll for at least 12 months, which fixes the share released.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are an individual inventor filing in your own name rather than through an IT unit. There is no citizen route into this scheme.
• Your business is not an IT industry unit under the policy. ITeS is defined by an enumerated list of business process outsourcing services and expressly excludes research and development services, whether or not in the nature of contract R&D.
• Your unit is located outside Goa, since the clause is confined to units located within Goa.
• The filing expense was incurred outside the policy period.
• You have already crossed the Rs 25 lakh total for the unit.
• Your unit is availing similar financial incentives under any other policy of the Government of Goa, which clause 7.A.2 bars, this is the clause to check if you are a DPIIT-recognised startup that has already claimed under the Goa Start-up Policy's IPR reimbursement scheme.

Under the policy, an Existing Unit is one registered or established in Goa that commenced operations three years before the date of notification of the policy. A New Unit is one that plans to commence, or commenced, operations after notification; a unit that started before notification but does not qualify as an Existing Unit is also treated as a New Unit.

How much do I actually get?

The two per-patent figures and the Rs 25 lakh cap work together. A unit that secures ten domestic patents at Rs 2.5 lakh each reaches Rs 25 lakh and stops there. A unit that secures five international patents at Rs 5 lakh each reaches the same ceiling. A mixed portfolio is added up in the same way until the cap is reached.

A second filter applies to whatever is computed, under clause 6.B.1(a):

Employees must be on the payroll of the unit for at least 12 months to count. A person of "Goan Origin" is one born in Goa, resident in the state for 10 years or more, having at least one parent born in Goa, or the spouse of such a person. A "Goan Graduate" is a person of Goan origin who completed an IT-related degree or diploma anywhere, or anyone who completed an IT-related degree or diploma at an institute located in Goa.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the patent filing reimbursement

1. File the patent and keep the paperwork. Retain the filing receipts, the official fee records and the attorney or agent invoices from the outset, since these are the expenses that the reimbursement is measured against.
2. Confirm the expense falls within the policy period. The clause covers expenses incurred towards filing of patents during the policy period, so a filing predating the policy is outside it.
3. Wait for the grant. The per-patent amounts are expressed for every successful domestic patent and every successful international patent, so keep the grant certificate ready before claiming.
4. Register the unit on the Goa single-window system at goaonline.gov.in. The policy commits the IT Department to a web-based single-window portal that enables registration of IT units and two-way communication with the Government on incentives.
5. File the claim with the grant certificate, the filing receipts and fee records, the attorney invoices, proof of the unit's registration in Goa, and the employment statement identifying employees of Goan origin and Goan graduates with at least 12 months on the payroll.
6. Attach the declaration that the unit is not availing similar financial incentives under any other policy of the Government of Goa for the same patent.
7. Await the supported Committee's decision. The Committee, chaired by the Chief Minister with the Minister for Information Technology as Vice-Chairman and the Director of the Department of Information Technology as Member Secretary, decides incentives, with a commitment of 90 working days for approvals and payments.

Why patent reimbursement claims get reduced or rejected

• No grant certificate, when the per-patent amounts attach to successful patents.
• Filing expense incurred outside the policy period.
• The Rs 25 lakh unit cap already exhausted by earlier patents.
• A domestic patent claimed at the international rate, or vice versa.
• The unit is located outside Goa, or is not an IT industry unit within the policy definitions.
• The same patent already reimbursed under another policy or scheme, most commonly the Goa Start-up Policy's IPR reimbursement scheme for SPC-certified startups.
• Employees counted with fewer than 12 months on the payroll, which pushes the unit into a lower release band.

What if I am a startup rather than an IT unit?

A DPIIT-recognised startup certified by the Start-up Promotion Cell (SPC) under the Goa Start-up Policy has a parallel route. The SPC's IPR Reimbursement Scheme reimburses up to 50% of the cost incurred in fees and all other costs associated with an IP application if the IP is registered successfully, subject to a cap of Rs 2 lakh for national IP and Rs 5 lakh for international IP, available to a maximum of 200 startups each year. Under that scheme, if the applicant has applied for reimbursement or a grant for the same IP under any other scheme of the Centre or another State Government, the application is rejected. Choose one route per IP rather than filing both.

What are the related incentives under the same policy?

• Quality Certification Reimbursement. The cost of industry standard quality certification, claimable once for any number of certifications during the policy period, capped at Rs 5 lakh per unit.
• Capital Investment Subsidy: up to 20% of capital investment, capped at Rs 10 lakh, Rs 50 lakh or Rs 1 crore by unit size.
• Power Subsidy — 20% on power charges up to Rs 5 lakh a year for 3 years.
• Internet Subsidy to 25% on high-speed bandwidth up to Rs 5 lakh a year.
• Salary Subsidy, a matching grant up to Rs 10,000 per fresher per month, Rs 12,500 for a female fresher, for 2 continuous years.
• Special incentives for Smaller Business Units, marketing support at 50% of exhibition rental cost limited to 9 square metres, a performance-linked grant of 5% of reported net income capped at Rs 25 lakh, and interest subsidy on working capital loans up to Rs 5 lakh a year for 3 years.

Where to get help and one caution

• Department of Information Technology, Government of Goa, which issues the detailed implementation guidelines.
• Goa single-window portal, goaonline.gov.in, for registration and claims.
• supported Committee, the deciding authority on incentives under the policy.

One timing caution. Clause 7.A.1 states the policy shall remain in operation for a period of five years from the date of notification in the official gazette, and this scheme is expressly tied to expenses incurred "during the policy period", so confirm the current status with the Department of Information Technology before preparing a claim. Clause 7.A.6 also applies: false or misleading information means returning the incentive with 18% per annum interest and being debarred from future Government incentives.

How to check your application status

The patent filing reimbursement claim is routed through Goa's single-window system, so status tracking runs through the same channel used for filing, not a separate helpline.

1. Log in to goaonline.gov.in with the credentials used to register the IT unit and file the claim. The single-window portal is the Department of Information Technology's stated channel for both registration of IT units and two-way communication with the government on incentives.
2. Open the applications or services section of the account dashboard and locate the patent filing reimbursement claim by its application or reference number generated at submission.
3. Read the stage shown against the claim. A single-window system of this kind typically shows whether a claim is pending scrutiny, sent for departmental verification, placed before the Committee, approved, or returned for corrections; the exact wording on screen should be treated as authoritative over any general description.
4. If the portal shows the claim returned or held up for a query, respond with the requested document or clarification through the same portal rather than filing a fresh claim, since a duplicate submission can create confusion about which one is current.
5. If the 90 working day window for approvals and payments has passed with no visible movement, follow up directly with the Department of Information Technology, Government of Goa, since no dedicated toll-free helpline is published for this scheme. Keep the application reference number, the unit's registration details on goaonline.gov.in, and the date of submission ready when you write in or visit, as these are what the department will ask for to trace the file.
6. For a claim awaiting a patent grant, remember that status tracking on goaonline.gov.in concerns the reimbursement claim itself; the grant status of the patent is tracked separately with the patent office (or the international authority, for an international filing), and the reimbursement claim cannot move to approval until that grant is in hand.