Intellectual
Property Rights
Patents
Act, 1970
CHAPTER XIII: REGISTER OF PATENTS
67. Register of patents and particulars to be entered therein
(1) There shall be kept at the
patent office a register of patents, wherein shall be entered-
(a) the names and addresses of
grantees of patents;
(b) notifications of assignments
and of transmissions of patents, of licences under patents, and of amendments,
and revocations of patents; and
(c) particulars of such other
matters affecting the validity or proprietorship of patents as may be
prescribed.
(2) No notice of any trust, whether
express, implied or constructive, shall be entered in the register, and
the Controller shall not be affected by any such notice.
(3) Subject to the superintendence
and direction of the Central Government, the register shall be kept under
the control and management of the Controller.
(4) For
the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the register of patents
existing at the commencement of this Act shall be incorporated in, and
form part of, the register under this Act.
68. Assignments, etc. not to be valid unless in writing and registered
An assignment
of a patent or of a share in a patent, a mortgage, licence or the creation
of any other interest or of a share in a patent, a mortgage, licence or
the creation of any other interest in a patent shall not be valid unless
the same were in writing and the agreement between the parties concerned
is reduced to the form of a document embodying all the terms and conditions
governing their rights and obligations and the application for registration
of such document is filed in the prescribed manner with the Controller
within six months from the commencement of this Act or the execution of
the document, whichever is later or within such further period not exceeding
six months in the aggregate as the Controller on application made in the
prescribed manner allows:
PROVIDED
that the document shall, when registered, have effect from the date of
its execution.
69. Registration of assignments, transmissions, etc.
(1) Where
any person becomes entitled by assignment, transmission or operation of
law to a patent or to a share in a patent or becomes entitled as a mortgagee,
licensee or otherwise to any other interest in a patent, he shall apply
in writing in the prescribed manner to the Controller for the registration
of his title or, as the case may be of notice of his interest in the register.
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions
of sub-section (1), an application for the registration of the title of
any person becoming entitled by assignment to a patent or a share in a
patent or becoming entitled by virtue of a mortgage, licence or other
instrument to any other interest in a patent may be made in the prescribed
manner by the assignor, mortgagor, licensor or other party to that instrument,
as the case may be.
(3) Where an application is made
under this section for the registration of the title of any person, the
Controller shall, upon proof of title to his satisfaction,-
(a) where that person is entitled
to a patent or a share in a patent, register him in the register as proprietor
or co-proprietor of the patent, and enter in the register particulars
of the instrument or event by which he derives title; or
(b) where that person is entitled
to any other interest in the patent, enter in the register notice of his
interest, with particulars of the instrument, if any, creating it:
PROVIDED that if there is any
dispute between the parties whether the assignment, mortgage, licence,
transmission, operation of law or any other such transaction has validly
vested in such person a title to the patent or any share or interest therein,
the Controller may refuse to take any action under clause (a), or, as
the case may be, under clause (b), until the rights of the parties have
been determined by a competent court.
(4) There shall be supplied to
the Controller in the prescribed manner for being filed in the patent
office copies of all agreements, licences and other documents affecting
the title to any patent of any licence thereunder authenticated in the
prescribed manner and also such other documents as may be prescribed relevant
to the subject-matter:
PROVIDED that in the case of a
licence granted under a patent, the Controller shall, if so requested
by the patentee or licensee, take steps for securing that the terms of
the licence are not disclosed to any person except under the order of
a court.
(5) Except
for the purposes of an application under sub-section (1) or of an application
to rectify the register, a document in respect of which no entry has been
made in the register under sub-section (3) shall not be admitted by the
Controller or by any court as evidence of the title of any person to a
patent or to a share or interest therein unless the Controller or the
court, for reasons to be recorded in writing, otherwise directs.
70. Power of registered grantee or proprietor to deal with patent
Subject
to the provisions contained in this Act relating to co-ownership of patents
and subject also to any rights vested in any other person of which notice
is entered in the register, the person or persons registered as grantee
or proprietor of patent shall have power to assign, grant licences under,
or otherwise deal with the patent and to give effectual receipts for consideration
for any such assignment, licence or dealing:
PROVIDED
that any equities in respect of the patent may be enforced in like manner
as in respect of any other movable property.
71. Rectification of register by High Court
(1) The
High Court may, on the application of any person aggrieved-
(a) by the absence or omission
from the register of any entry; or
(b) by any entry made in the register
without sufficient cause; or
(c) by any entry wrongly remaining
on the register; or
(d) by any error or defect in
any entry in register,
make such order for the making,
variation or deletion, of any entry therein as it may think fit.
(2) In any proceeding under this
section the High Court may decide any question that may be necessary or
expedient to decide in connection with the rectification of the register.
(3) Notice of any application
to the High Court under this section shall be given in the prescribed
manner to the Controller who shall be entitled to appear and be heard
on the application, and shall appear if so directed by the court.
(4) Any
order of the High Court under this section rectifying the register shall
direct that notice of the rectification shall be served upon the Controller
in the prescribed manner who shall upon receipt of such notice rectify
the register accordingly.
72. Register to be open for inspection
(1) Subject
to the provisions contained in this Act and any rules made thereunder,
the register shall at all convenient times be open to inspection by the
public; and certified copies, sealed with the seal of the patent office,
of any entry in the register shall be given to any person requiring them
on payment of the prescribed fee.
The register shall be prima facie
evidence of any matters required or authorised by or under this Act to
be entered therein.
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