Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite laminates have become popular for structural applications as they are lighter, stronger and tougher. But they are also susceptible to damage while in service. Damage in composite structures reduces its structural integrity and hence the service life. For improved service life, the damages need to be repaired so that structural integrity is restored. Adhesively bonded composite patch repair is one of the prominent technique used for restoring the structural integrity of the damaged part. Patch shape is one of the important parameter in composite repair performance and it needs to be investigated thoroughly. In the present work, a 3D finite element based study is carried out to investigate the influence of various patch shapes on repair efficiency. Damaged CFRP laminates are repaired by symmetrical patch adhesively bonded over the damaged area. The panel analyzed is of pure unidirectional and quasi-isotropic laminate sequences. The patch shapes considered are circle, rectangle, square, ellipse, octagon and oval. Stress concentration factor (SCF) is estimated before and after the repair to evaluate their efficiency. Also peel stress is considered for quantitative comparison. The SCF reduction and peel stress are compared for various patch shapes keeping constant patch volume. Stress based 3D-Hashin's failure criterion is employed for predicting the strength at damage initiation along with failure modes in notched and repaired panel. Optimal patch shape is then brought-out based on higher repair efficiency. Finally, a genetic algorithm based approach in-conjunction with finite element analysis is used for the optimization of patch geometry and adhesive thickness in order to obtain higher repair performance. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.