Patents Act, 1970
(1) The Indian Patents and Designs Act, 1911, in so far as it relates to patents, is hereby repealed, that is to say, the said Act shall be amended in the manner specified in the Schedule. (4) The mention of particular matters in this section shall not prejudice the general application of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897), with respect to repeals. (5) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, any suit for infringement of a patent or any proceeding for revocation of a patent, pending in any court at the commencement of this Act, may be continued and disposed of, as if this Act had not been passed. THE SCHEDULE [See section 162] AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIAN PATENTS AND DESIGNS ACT, 1911 1. Long title—Omit “Inventions and”. 2. Preamble—Omit “inventions and”. 3. Section 1—In sub-section (1) omit “Indian Patents and”. 4. Section 2— (a) omit clause (1); (b) in clause (2) omit “(as respects designs)”; (c) for clause (3), substitute— ‘ (3) “controller” means the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks appointed under sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 (43 of 1958);’; (d) in clause (5) for “trade mark as defined in section 478”, substitute “trade mark as defined in clause (v) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 (43 of 1958)”.; (e) omit clause (6); (f) in clause 7, after sub-clause (ee) insert,— “ (f) in relation to the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa, Daman and Diu, the High Court at Bombay; (g) in relation to the Union territory of Pondicherry, the High Court at Madras.”; (g) omit clauses (8), (10) and (11); (h) for clause (12), substitute— ‘ (12) “patent office” means the patent office referred to in section 74 of the Patents Act, 1970.’. 5. Omit Part I. 6. For section 51B, substitute— “51B. Designs to bind Government.—A registered design shall have to all intents the like effect as against Government as it has against any person and the provisions of Chapter XVII of the Patents Act, 1970, shall apply to registered designs as they apply to patents.”. 7. In section 54, for “The provisions of this Act,” substitute “The provisions of the Patents Act, 1970”. 8. Omit sections 55 and 56. 9. Section 57—For sub-section (1), substitute— “ (1) There shall be paid in respect of the registration of designs and applications therefor and in respect of other matters relating to designs under this Act such fees as may be prescribed by the Central Government.”. 10. Omit section 59A. 11. Section 61—Omit sub-section (1). 12. For section 62, substitute— “62. Power of Controller to correct clerical errors.—The Controller may, on request in writing accompanied by the prescribed fee, correct any clerical error in the representation of a design or in the name or address of the proprietor of any design or in any other matter which is entered upon the register of designs.”. 13. Section 63— (a) in sub-section (1), omit “to a patent or” and “patent or”; (b) in sub-section (2), omit “patent or” and for “patents or designs, as the case may be,”, substitute “designs,”; (c) in sub-section (3), omit “patent or” wherever that expression occurs; (d) in sub-section (4), omit “to a patent or”. 14. Section 64— (a) in sub-section (1), omit “patents or” and omit the word “either” wherever it occurs; (b) in sub-section (5), omit clause (a). 15. Omit section 66. 16. Section 67—Omit “for a patent, or for amendment of an application or of a specification, or”. 17. Section 69—In sub-section (1), omit “to grant a patent for an invention or”. 18. Section 71A—Omit “or from patents, specifications and other.”. 19. Omit section 72. 20. Omit sections 74A and 75. 21. Section 76— (a) in sub-section (1), omit “other”; (b) in sub-section (2), in clause (c), omit “opponent”. 22. Section 77— (a) in sub-section (1)— (i) in clauses (c) and (d), omit “specifications”; (ii) for clause (e), substitute— “ (e) providing for the inspection of documents in the patent office and for the manner in which they may be published;”; (iii) omit clause (eee); (b) omit sub-section (2A). 23. Omit section 78. 24. For section 78A, substitute— “78A. Reciprocal arrangement with United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries— (1) Any person who has applied for protection for any design in the United Kingdom or his legal representative or assignee shall, either alone or jointly with any other person, be entitled to claim that the registration of the said design under this Act shall be in priority to other applicants and shall have the same date as the date of the application in the United Kingdom: Provided that— (a) the application is made within six months from the application for protection in the United Kingdom; and (b) nothing in this section shall entitle the proprietor of the design to recover damages for infringements happening prior to the actual date on which the design is registered in India. (2) The registration of a design shall not be invalidated by reason only of the exhibition or use of, or the publication of a description or representation of, the design in India during the period specified in this section as that within which the application may be made. (3) The application for the registration of a design under this section must be made in the same manner as an ordinary application under this Act. (4) Where it is made to appear to the Central Government that the legislature of any such Commonwealth country as may be notified by the Central Government in this behalf has made satisfactory provision for the protection of designs registered in India, the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that the provisions of this section, with such variations or additions, if any, as may be set out in such notification, shall apply for the protection of designs registered in that Commonwealth country.”. 25. Omit sections 78B, 78C, 78D and 78E. 26. Omit the Schedule. STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS The law relating to patents now on the statute book was enacted in 1911 and since then there have been substantial changes in the political and economic conditions of the country. Although the Act has been in force for a very long period, it has not achieved its main purpose of stimulating inventions among Indians and encouraging the development and exploitation of new inventions for industrial progress in this country. The need for a more comprehensive law so as to ensure that patent rights are not worked to the detriment of the consumer or to the prejudice of the trade or the Industrial development of the country was felt as early 1948 and in that year the Government appointed a Committee known as the patents. Enquiry Committee to review the working of the patents law in India with a view to ensure that the patent system became more conducive to national interests. An interim report of that Committee made in 1949 suggested the immediate amendment of the Indian patents and Designs Act, 1911, so as to counteract the misuse or abuse of patent monopoly in India by the enactment of provisions for compulsory licensing. The recommendations contained in that interim report were given effect to by the Indian patents and Designs (Amendment) Act, 1950. The final report of the Committee was presented to Government in 1950, and based on the final report a Bill further to amend the Indian Patents and Design Act, 1911, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on the 7th December, 1953. While the Bill was pending, a further examination of the law revealed that the Bill would need extensive amendments and consequently it was not proceeded with and was allowed to lapse on the dissolution of the First Lok Sabha. 2. In 1957, the Government of India requested Shri N. Rajagopala Ayyangar, now a retired Judge of the Supreme Court, to examine afresh the law of patents in India and advise the Government on the changes necessary. The present Bill which is based mainly on the recommendations contained in his comprehensive report, incorporates a few further changes in the light of further examination particularly with reference to patents for food, medicines and drug. 3. The Notes on Clauses explain in detail the various provisions contained in the Bill. NEW DELHI; T.N. SINGH. The 1st September, 1965