Section 128 of the Patents Act, 1970
Subscription and verification of certain documents by patent agents
Allows an authorised patent agent to sign applications and communications sent to the Controller on a client's behalf.
Official legal text
The verbatim statutory text of this provision is reproduced from the official source and checked by our legal reviewer before it is published here. Until that check is complete for this page, read the exact wording directly from the official source linked below — it is the only version that governs.
This is a simplified explanation. Where it differs from the official text of the provision, or from an applicable Gazette notification, the official text and the notification prevail.
What this section says, in plain language
Patent work generates a steady stream of paper: forms, replies, requests, statements and covering letters. Section 128 makes that workable. It provides that applications and communications to the Controller may be signed by a patent agent who has been authorised in writing by the person concerned. The applicant does not have to sign every sheet that leaves the agent's office, and the Patent Office can accept the agent's signature as the client's own act.
The permission is not unlimited. Where the Act or the Rules require a particular person to sign or to verify a document, that person has to do it. A declaration as to inventorship, an affidavit filed as evidence under rule 126, an assignment or other document of title, and similar papers depend for their value on the identity of the person making them. Allowing an agent to swear to another person's facts would destroy their purpose, so the law keeps those signatures where they belong.
Section 128 also preserves the Controller's discretion. In a particular case the Controller may require the personal signature or the personal presence of the applicant, the opponent or any other party. This is used sparingly, usually where identity, authority or the truth of a statement is genuinely in question, or where the Controller wants to hear directly from the party rather than through a representative.
In practice the machinery runs on the written authorisation, which is placed on record through the form referred to in rule 135. Once that is filed, the agent's signature is treated as sufficient and correspondence flows to the agent's address for service. Two practical points follow. First, verification statements have to be true, and the person who signs takes responsibility for them. Second, if you change agents, put the new authorisation on record promptly, because until you do, the office will keep dealing with the earlier one.
Why this section matters
Applicants and patentees who work through an agent, and the agents who sign for them.
Throughout prosecution, from filing to grant and afterwards, whenever a document goes to the Controller.
Authority for an authorised agent to sign, subject to the documents that only the party can sign or verify.
Papers may be signed by someone without authority on record, or a document that needed the applicant's own signature may be rejected, costing time on a running deadline.
How it works in practice
A Coimbatore MSME finds out which papers it must sign itself
Sundaram Weaving Solutions, a Coimbatore textile MSME, appoints a registered agent in Chennai to handle its patent for a low-tension yarn feeder. The authorisation is filed and the agent signs the routine papers: the request for examination, the reply to the examination report, a request for a hearing and the covering letters. When a competitor files a pre-grant representation, the agent prepares an affidavit from the firm's production manager, Kavitha Raman, describing when the feeder was first assembled and tested. The agent cannot swear that affidavit. Kavitha signs and verifies it herself, and the agent files it. Later, at a hearing, the Controller wants to satisfy himself about who actually devised the feeder mechanism and asks for the partner responsible to attend in person rather than sending only the agent. The firm complies. The case proceeds normally, but the partners learn a useful distinction: the agent carries the file, while the firm still carries the facts.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- An agent authorised in writing may sign applications and communications addressed to the Controller.
- Documents that the Act or Rules require a specific person to sign or verify must still be signed by that person.
- Affidavits and declarations of fact belong to the person with knowledge, not to the agent.
- The Controller may in a particular case require the personal signature or presence of a party.
- The written authorisation under rule 135 is what makes the agent's signature acceptable to the office.
- Keeping the authorisation and address for service current prevents communications going to the wrong person.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Assuming the agent can sign absolutely everything. Evidence and declarations of fact need the signature of the person who knows the facts.
- Filing documents before the authorisation is placed on record, which can lead to objections about who signed.
- Treating verification as a formality. A false verification is the signatory's problem, not the agent's.
- Ignoring a direction to attend personally, which the Controller is entitled to give in a particular case.
Connected provisions
The Patents Act sets the requirement; the Patents Rules, 2003 set the procedure that carries it out. Parliament passes the Act and the Central Government makes the Rules, so the two are separate instruments. We list the connected rules here to take you from the principle to the paperwork.
Forms, deadlines and fees
Prescribed forms sit in the Second Schedule to the Patents Rules. The Schedule is updated along with the Rules, so the safe practice is to download the form on the day you prepare it and check that it is the current version.
The official fee for anything described on this page is set out in the First Schedule to the Patents Rules. It is not the same for every applicant, and it is not the same for online and physical filing, which is why no amount is stated here. How Indian patent fees work.
Related judgments
This part of the page is reserved for summaries of decided cases. They are added one at a time, after review by a person qualified to confirm that the summary matches the judgment. Nothing has been cleared for this provision so far, so there is nothing to show. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Section 128
Can my patent agent sign the patent application for me?
Yes, once you have authorised the agent in writing and that authorisation is on the Patent Office record. Section 128 lets an authorised agent sign applications and communications addressed to the Controller. Some documents are different: anything the Act or Rules require a named person to sign or verify, such as evidence on affidavit or a declaration of fact, must be signed by that person. The safe approach is to ask your agent which papers in your file need your own signature.
Can the Controller ask the applicant to appear personally?
Yes. Section 128 preserves the Controller's power to require the personal signature or presence of an applicant, opponent or other party in a particular case. This is not routine, and most matters are handled entirely through the agent. It is used where identity, authority or the truth of a statement needs to be tested directly, or where the Controller thinks the party's own account will help. Ignoring such a direction is unwise, because the proceeding continues on the record available.
What happens if I change patent agents in the middle of a case?
File a fresh written authorisation in favour of the new agent so it goes on record, and update the address for service. Until that is done, the Patent Office is entitled to keep corresponding with the agent already on record. Because patent deadlines are strict and many notices are issued only once, a gap here is genuinely risky. Ask the outgoing agent for the complete file, including all office communications and dates, before the change takes effect.
Does an affidavit in a patent matter have to be signed by the deponent?
Yes. An affidavit is a statement of a person's own knowledge, so it must be made and verified by that person, and it follows the form and manner set out in rule 126. The agent prepares it, files it and argues on it, but cannot swear to facts the agent does not personally know. Getting this wrong can cause the evidence to be discounted at exactly the moment when it matters most, such as in an opposition.
Confused about which patent papers you must sign?
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