Section 147 of the Patents Act, 1970
Evidence of entries, documents, etc.
Section 147 makes the Controller's certificates and sealed certified copies admissible as evidence without producing the original patent office records.
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.
Nothing here replaces the statute. The official wording of the provision, together with any Gazette notification that applies to it, governs. This page only explains that material in ordinary language.
What this section says, in plain language
Section 147 solves an evidence problem. Patent disputes constantly rely on what the Patent Office has recorded: the date an application was filed, whether a renewal fee was paid, who is entered as proprietor, whether an assignment was registered, what the specification said before it was amended. Without a special rule, a party would have to bring the original office records into court and prove them in the ordinary way. That would be impractical and would disrupt the working of the office.
The section therefore provides two things. First, a certificate signed by the Controller about any entry, matter or thing that the Controller is authorised to make or do under the Act is prima facie evidence that the entry has been made or the act done. Prima facie evidence means the court accepts it as true unless the other side produces material to displace it; the burden shifts to the person who disputes it. Second, a copy of an entry in a register or of any document kept at the Patent Office, certified by the Controller and sealed with the office seal, is admissible in evidence in all courts without further proof and without producing the original.
In practice this is how a patentee proves title and subsistence at the start of an infringement suit. A certified copy of the register entry under Section 72 and Rule 133 establishes who the registered proprietor is and that renewals have been paid. A certified copy of the granted specification establishes the claims that are said to be infringed. A certified copy of the priority document supports a priority claim. All of this is obtained from the Patent Office on request with the prescribed fee, rather than by summoning an officer.
The word to notice is prima facie. These documents are strong but not conclusive. Section 72 already makes the register only prima facie evidence of the matters entered in it, and the register can be rectified by the High Court under Section 71 where an entry is wrong or has been wrongly retained. So a defendant is not shut out from proving that the recorded proprietor is not the real owner, or that a renewal was not in fact paid.
Anyone preparing for litigation should budget time for this step. Certified copies take a request, a fee and processing time at the office. Applying for them a week before a hearing is a common and avoidable source of adjournment.
Why this section matters
Litigants and their counsel in infringement suits, revocation petitions and rectification applications, and anyone who has to prove a patent fact to a court, a bank, an investor or a tax authority.
Whenever a fact recorded at the Patent Office has to be proved outside the Patent Office, most often at the start of a suit or during due diligence.
Admissibility without further proof for sealed certified copies, and prima facie evidentiary value for the Controller's certificates.
A party that turns up with downloaded screenshots instead of certified copies may find its documents challenged, its case delayed, or its interim injunction application weakened.
How it works in practice
Certified copies before an urgent injunction
Kestrel Robotics Pvt Ltd in Bengaluru discovered at a trade fair in Chennai that a rival was selling an automated guided vehicle with the docking mechanism claimed in Kestrel's Indian patent. Kestrel wanted an urgent interim injunction. Its counsel did not rely on printouts from the online patent search. Instead the firm requested certified copies from the Patent Office of the register entry showing Kestrel as recorded proprietor, the renewal fee entries showing the patent was in force, and the granted specification with claims. Because Section 147 makes sealed certified copies admissible without further proof, the court could accept the patent's subsistence and Kestrel's title at the first hearing rather than adjourning for formal proof. The defendant was free to argue invalidity and non-infringement, and did, but it could not stall the hearing on the basis that the plaintiff had not proved it owned a live patent. The lead time for obtaining those copies had been built into the plan two weeks earlier.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- A certificate signed by the Controller is prima facie evidence that the entry or act it records was made or done.
- Certified copies sealed with the Patent Office seal are admissible in all courts without further proof.
- The original office records do not have to be produced.
- Prima facie means rebuttable: the register can still be challenged, including by rectification under Section 71.
- Certified copies are the standard way to prove title, subsistence and claim wording in an infringement suit.
- Requests for certified copies take time and a prescribed fee, so plan ahead of a hearing.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Relying on a screenshot or an unsealed download of the register when a certified copy is what the court will expect.
- Treating a certified copy as conclusive proof of ownership. It shifts the burden but does not prevent the other side from proving the entry is wrong.
- Leaving the request for certified copies until the week of the hearing, when processing time at the Patent Office cannot be compressed.
Connected provisions
A section tells you what the law is. A rule tells you how the Patent Office runs it from day to day. The two are kept apart here so that a reader can quote the section accurately and then look up the current rule for the practical steps.
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
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 147
How do I prove in court that I own an Indian patent?
Obtain a certified copy of the entry in the register of patents from the Patent Office, together with certified copies of the granted specification and the renewal fee entries. Under Section 147 those sealed copies are admissible in all courts without further proof, and the Controller's certificate is prima facie evidence of what it records. Section 72 read with Rule 133 governs inspection of the register and the supply of certified copies. Because the evidence is prima facie only, an opponent can still try to prove that the register entry is wrong.
What is the difference between a certified copy and a downloaded copy?
A downloaded copy from the Patent Office website is convenient but is not certified or sealed, so a court is not obliged to accept it without proof. A certified copy is issued by the Patent Office on a request with the prescribed fee, carries the office seal, and under Section 147 is admissible without producing the original record. For everyday reading and searching, downloads are fine. For pleadings, interim injunction applications, security filings and formal due diligence, obtain certified copies.
Does a certificate from the Controller settle the question of ownership?
No. It is prima facie evidence, which means the court starts by accepting it and the burden moves to whoever disputes it. Section 72 similarly treats the register as prima facie evidence of the matters entered there. If the register is wrong, for example because an assignment was never registered or a person was wrongly entered, the remedy is an application to the High Court under Section 71 to rectify the register. Ownership disputes are therefore resolved on the underlying documents, not on the certificate alone.
Can I use certified Patent Office documents outside court?
Yes, and people often do. Certified copies are used in due diligence for a funding round or an acquisition, in security and hypothecation documents where a patent is offered as collateral, in customs recordals, and in dealings with foreign patent offices that require certified priority documents. The same request and fee route applies. The advantage is that a sealed office document is far harder for a counterparty to question than an informal print of a web page.
Need certified patent office documents for a case or deal?
MYCrave Consultancy obtains certified register extracts, specifications and priority documents and prepares them for litigation or due diligence.
You will be speaking with MYCrave Consultancy & Services, the firm that operates this platform. General questions are answered free; matter‑specific work is quoted before anything is done.