The Patent Office has been committed to revise the Manual of Patent Office Practice and Procedure (hereinafter the Manual) from time to time based on interpretations by a Court of Law, statutory amendments and valuable inputs from the stakeholders. Accordingly, after a long gap of around 8 years, the erstwhile Manual (http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/IPOGuidelinesManuals/1_28_1_manual-of-patent-office-practice_and-procedure.pdf) has been superseded by the new Manual (http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/Images/pdf/Manual_for_Patent_Office_Practice_and_Procedure_.pdf),published on November 26, 2019 by the Controller General of Patents.
Since 2011, multiple amendments have been made in the Patents Rules 2003, and considerable changes have been made in the patent practice and procedure, including automation and electronic work flow, and it was the need of the hour to revise the manual to capture these developments and provide more transparency in the functioning of the Patent Office.
While there are numerous changes over the older version of the manual, to capture the developments and also to provide further clarifications over the already covered provisions, the key changes can be read from the pdf link below