Section 119 of the Patents Act, 1970
Falsification of entries in register, etc.
Section 119 punishes faking an entry in the Register of Patents or using a false copy of an entry as evidence.
Official legal text
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What this section says, in plain language
The Register of Patents is the official record of who owns a patent, when it was granted, whether renewal fees have been paid, and what assignments, licences and other interests have been registered. Businesses rely on it when they buy patents, take licences, raise funding or check whether a rival's patent is still in force. Section 147 allows certified copies of entries to be produced in court as evidence. A record used in this way is only useful if it can be trusted, and Section 119 protects that trust.
The section covers three kinds of dishonesty. The first is making, or causing to be made, a false entry in the Register. The second is making or causing to be made a writing that falsely appears to be a copy of an entry in the Register. The third is producing or tendering such a false document as evidence, knowing the entry or writing to be false. A person convicted of any of these can be sent to prison for up to two years, or fined, or both.
Two words carry the weight of the section: false and knowing. An honest mistake, such as a typing error in a name or a wrong address, is not an offence. Errors of that kind are corrected through Section 78, which lets the Controller correct clerical errors, or through Section 71, which allows the High Court to order rectification of the Register. What the section targets is deliberate fabrication, for example creating a document that pretends to be an official extract in order to mislead a buyer, a bank or a judge.
The practical lesson for ordinary users is to obtain official copies rather than rely on documents handed over by the other side. A certified copy of an entry can be obtained from the Patent Office on request, with the fee set out in the First Schedule, and the Register can be inspected under Section 72. In due diligence for an acquisition or a licence, checking the Register directly is cheap and it removes any question about the authenticity of what you were shown.
Why this section matters
Buyers and licensees of patents, banks and investors relying on ownership records, and anyone producing patent documents in court.
During due diligence, assignment registration, and whenever an extract of the Register is used to prove a fact.
Criminal liability for falsifying Register entries or fabricating and using false copies of them.
A transaction can be built on a forged record, and anyone knowingly producing such a document in evidence faces prosecution.
How it works in practice
A forged extract in a licence negotiation
Vaanam Diagnostics Pvt Ltd of Chennai is negotiating a licence for a patented assay. The other side, a small trading firm, produces what looks like an extract from the Register of Patents showing that it is the recorded proprietor and that renewal fees are paid up to date. Vaanam's counsel does the obvious check and inspects the Register herself under Section 72, then orders a certified copy of the entry. The official record shows a different proprietor, and the assignment the trading firm relies on was never registered. The document produced in the negotiation was fabricated. Creating a writing that falsely purports to be a copy of an entry in the Register is exactly what Section 119 forbids, and knowingly tendering it as evidence in a proceeding would be a further offence. Vaanam walks away from the deal, saving a licence fee, and its counsel keeps the fabricated document and the certified copy on record.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Making a false entry in the Register of Patents is an offence.
- Fabricating a document that pretends to be a copy of a Register entry is also an offence.
- Producing or tendering such a document as evidence, knowing it is false, is covered too.
- The maximum prison term is two years, and a fine can be imposed instead or in addition.
- Genuine mistakes are not offences; use Section 78 for clerical corrections or Section 71 for rectification.
- Always verify ownership by inspecting the Register or obtaining a certified copy rather than trusting a document supplied by the other party.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Thinking any error in the Register can lead to prosecution. The offence needs falsity and knowledge, not carelessness.
- Assuming a printout supplied by a seller proves ownership. Only the official Register, or a certified copy of an entry, is reliable evidence.
- Believing that registering an assignment is optional paperwork. An unregistered transfer leaves the Register showing the old owner and creates room for disputes and misuse.
Connected provisions
You will find the related rules grouped below rather than inside the explanation. The separation is deliberate. The Act and the Rules are distinct legal instruments, and mixing them can lead a reader to attribute a procedural requirement to the statute itself.
Forms, deadlines and fees
Fees are prescribed in the First Schedule to the Patents Rules. Because the Schedule is revised from time to time, and charges different amounts to different categories of applicant and for physical as against electronic filing, this page describes the fee without stating a figure. How Indian patent fees work.
Related judgments
Case summaries are published only after a qualified reviewer has checked the judgment, the citation and the way the holding is described. Nothing has cleared that review for this provision yet, so nothing is listed here. We would rather show no case note than one that misstates what a court decided. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Section 119
How can I verify who really owns an Indian patent?
Start with the Register of Patents, which is open to inspection under Section 72 and records the proprietor, renewal status and registered assignments, licences and other interests. You can obtain a certified copy of an entry from the Patent Office by paying the fee set out in the First Schedule. For a transaction, ask for the chain of title documents as well, and check that each assignment has been registered under Section 69. If the Register and the documents do not match, resolve that before money changes hands.
What should I do if the Register shows wrong information about my patent?
Match the remedy to the problem. A clerical error or an obvious slip, such as a misspelt name, can be corrected by the Controller under Section 78. Where an entry is wrongly made, missing or wrongly remaining, and a judicial order is needed, an application for rectification of the Register is made to the High Court under Section 71. If a change of ownership was never recorded, the answer is usually to register the assignment or transmission under Section 69. None of these routes involves any offence; Section 119 is about deliberate falsification.
Does Section 119 apply to false statements made during prosecution?
No. This section is confined to the Register of Patents and to documents that pretend to be copies of its entries. False information given to the Controller in other contexts is dealt with elsewhere, notably in Section 122, which covers refusal or failure to supply information required under the Act and knowingly furnishing false information. Making a false declaration in an application can also affect the patent itself, since a patent obtained on a false suggestion or representation is liable to be revoked under Section 64.
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