Patent Examiner (Food Technology) official syllabus guide
Patent Examiner (Food Technology) syllabus 2027
In the 2023-24 cycle NTA held the Prelims as a 2-hour computer-based test of 150 one-mark questions. It only screens: about 20 times the vacancies go to the Mains, and Prelims marks are not counted in the final list. The Mains has Paper-I (100 objective questions, 2 hours) and Paper-II, a 3-hour, 300-mark handwritten paper in your discipline. Mains marks carry 80% and the 100-mark interview 20%. Paper-II for Food Technology is close to the GATE Food Technology syllabus, so the site's GATE XL and GATE XE practice also helps there.
Exam pattern and marking
- Prelims: 150 questions, 1 mark each, 2 hours, computer-based, English
- Prelims sections: General English 15, Verbal and Non-verbal Reasoning 30, Quantitative Aptitude 30, General Knowledge and Current Affairs 30, General Science 30, IP legislation in India, WIPO and related treaties 15
- Prelims qualifying marks: 30% for UR, 25% for OBC/EWS, 20% for others
- Mains Paper-I: 100 marks, 2 hours, 20 marks each of General Knowledge and Current Affairs, General Aptitude, Elementary Mathematics, English Language Proficiency, and Knowledge of IPRs
- Mains Paper-II: 300 marks, 3 hours, descriptive, in the candidate's discipline
- Final list: Mains 80%, interview (100 marks) 20%; about 5 times the vacancies are called for interview
- Negative marking: the 2018-19 bulletin set one third for the Prelims; coaching sites report the same for 2023-24
Prelims of 150 MCQs, then a Mains objective paper and a 300-mark descriptive Food Technology paper syllabus
Prelims: general sections
5 topics- General English: grammar, vocabulary, comprehension
- Verbal and non-verbal reasoning: series, analogies, coding, figures, directions
- Quantitative aptitude: arithmetic, percentages, ratio, averages, time and work, data interpretation
- General knowledge and current affairs
- General science at school level: physics, chemistry, biology
IP legislation and treaties
4 topics- Patents Act 1970: patentability, non-patentable inventions, filing, examination, opposition, grant, compulsory licences
- Designs Act 2000 and the other Indian IP statutes
- WIPO and the treaties it administers, including the Paris Convention and the PCT
- TRIPS Agreement
Paper-II: food chemistry and nutrition
2 topics- Carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, pigments, flavours and enzymes
- Nutrition: balanced diet, essential amino and fatty acids, PER, vitamins, minerals, antinutrients, deficiency diseases
Paper-II: food microbiology
3 topics- Bacteria, yeasts and moulds; growth and death kinetics; intrinsic and extrinsic factors
- Spoilage of milk, meat and their products; microbial toxins and pathogens
- Fermented foods
Paper-II: food products technology
2 topics- Preservation, packaging, CIP and food laws
- Cereals, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, plantation crops, milk products and animal products
Paper-II: food engineering
2 topics- Mass and energy balance; fluid flow; heat and mass transfer
- Mechanical operations, extrusion, thermal processing (F-value), evaporation, drying, freezing, crystallisation, psychrometrics
Source: NTA public notice of 27 Dec 2023 (Prelims sections) ↗. Source: Biotecnika summary of the 2023 notification (scheme) ↗. Source: Food Technology Paper-II syllabus as reproduced by Food Tech Network ↗. Checked 2026-10-30.
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