In India, a person registered to practice before Indian Patent Office is called as "Registered Patent Agent" or simply "Patent agent". The Indian Patent Law specifically does not mention the designation of "Patent Attorney". The Indian Patent Agent can thus be considered the counterpart of the Patent Attorney in Australia, EPO or Japan.
Indian Patent Office conducts a qualifying examination for patent agent registration twice a year. Indian Patent Law mandates a science or technical degree for person(s) to appear for the qualifying examination. Other criteria for eligibility include being an Indian Citizen, and 21 years of age. There are approximately 1400 registered patent agents in India. However many of the patent agents got themselves registered without appearing for the qualifying examination before the amendment that took place in 2003. It can also be inferred that many of them who got registered before the amendment took place do not have any science or technical degree.