Section 134 of the Patents Act, 1970
Notification as to countries not providing for reciprocity
Lets the Government notify countries that deny Indian applicants equal treatment, and restrict their nationals from obtaining patents in India.
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.
Treat this page as a guide. The provision as officially published, along with the Gazette notifications that apply to it, remains the governing text and overrides any simplification here.
What this section says, in plain language
Reciprocity is the quiet assumption behind the international patent system: your inventors are treated in my country as I treat my own, and mine are treated the same way in yours. Section 134 is the provision India keeps in reserve for the case where that assumption fails. If a country does not give Indian applicants, or a class of them, the same rights in respect of the grant of patents and the protection of patent rights that it gives to its own nationals, the Central Government may notify that country.
Where such a notification is made, nationals of that country lose access to the Indian system in defined ways. They cannot apply for the grant of a patent in India or be registered as proprietor of a patent, whether alone or jointly with others, and the restriction extends to being registered as an assignee of a patentee. In short, the door narrows for the nationals of a country whose own door is closed to Indians.
This is a policy lever rather than a routine feature of practice. Indian patent work operates on the basis that treaty partners give national treatment, and applications from around the world are handled in the ordinary course. A reader should therefore treat section 134 as background: the power exists, it is exercised by notification in the Official Gazette, and its current status has to be verified from Gazette notifications rather than assumed from any commentary.
The section reads naturally alongside section 133. One provision opens the system by declaring convention countries and enabling priority claims, and the other allows the Government to close part of it where reciprocity has broken down. Both are exercised by notification, and both remind readers that access to patent protection between countries is negotiated, not automatic.
Why this section matters
Foreign applicants and their Indian representatives, and Indian applicants concerned about treatment abroad.
Only where the Government has notified a country as failing to give Indian applicants equal treatment.
A power to restrict nationals of a non-reciprocating country from applying for, holding or taking an assignment of Indian patents.
An applicant from a notified country could pursue filings that cannot lawfully be granted or registered, wasting cost and disclosure.
How it works in practice
A due diligence question during a technology transfer
Suraj Renewables Pvt Ltd of Ahmedabad is negotiating to buy a portfolio of Indian patents from a foreign licensor. Its counsel runs a standard check before the assignment is executed: are there any notifications restricting nationals of the licensor's country from being registered as proprietors or assignees of Indian patents. The check is done against Official Gazette notifications, not from memory, because the position can change with policy. Nothing adverse is found, and the assignment proceeds to registration in the ordinary way. In the same deal, the licensor asks whether its own inventors can continue to file fresh Indian applications for improvements. The answer is again yes, on the same basis. The exercise takes little time, but it protects a substantial transaction from a defect that would be very hard to cure later, since a registration that could not lawfully be made would leave the buyer holding a title it cannot enforce cleanly.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- The Central Government may notify a country that fails to give Indian applicants the same treatment as its own nationals.
- Nationals of a notified country may be barred from applying for, being registered as proprietor of, or taking an assignment of an Indian patent.
- The restriction is imposed by notification in the Official Gazette and must be verified from that source.
- This is a reserve policy power, not a feature of routine Indian patent practice.
- It complements section 133, which opens the priority system to notified convention countries.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Assuming the section has no effect at all. It is a live power, and its current use has to be checked in the Gazette rather than guessed.
- Confusing it with the convention country notification under section 133. One enables priority; this one withdraws access.
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
This site does not carry a fee table. The First Schedule to the Patents Rules is the source, the rates vary with the applicant's category and with the mode of filing, and a figure quoted second-hand goes out of date quietly. How Indian patent fees work.
Related judgments
Court decisions shape how this provision is applied, but a summary is useful only if it is right. Every case note on this site is read by a legal reviewer before it goes live, and none has been completed for this provision so far. This section will fill in as those reviews finish. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Section 134
What does section 134 of the Patents Act do?
It gives the Central Government a reciprocity power. If a country does not give Indian applicants the same rights it gives its own nationals in relation to the grant of patents and the protection of patent rights, the Government may notify that country. Nationals of a notified country can then be barred from applying for a patent in India, from being registered as proprietor of one, and from being registered as an assignee. It is exercised by notification in the Official Gazette.
Does section 134 affect priority claims from that country?
The two provisions work on different questions. Section 133 decides whether a country has convention status, which is what allows a priority claim in India. Section 134 decides whether nationals of a country may obtain or hold Indian patents at all where reciprocity has broken down. If nationals of a notified country cannot apply for or be registered as proprietor of an Indian patent, the priority question becomes academic for them, because there is no Indian application they can lawfully pursue.
How would I know whether a country has been notified under section 134?
By checking Official Gazette notifications, which is the only reliable source. Commentaries and website summaries go stale, and the status of such notifications can change with policy. If you are advising on a cross-border assignment, a licence or a filing programme for a foreign client, make this a documented step in your due diligence rather than an assumption, because the consequence of getting it wrong is a title that may not be registrable in India.
Doing cross-border patent work involving India?
MYCrave Consultancy checks reciprocity and registration eligibility before your Indian filings or assignments are executed.
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