Section 157A of the Patents Act, 1970
Protection of security of India
Section 157A lets the Central Government withhold information and take action, including revoking a patent, where the security of India requires it.
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
Section 157A was inserted by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002 to bring India's patent law in line with the security exception recognised in the TRIPS Agreement. It gives the Central Government two powers that operate notwithstanding anything else in the Act. First, the Government shall not disclose information relating to a patentable invention, or to an application for a patent, where it considers that disclosure would be prejudicial to the interest of the security of India. Second, the Government may take any action it considers necessary in the interest of the security of India, including revoking a patent, by issuing a notification in the Official Gazette.
The Act does not leave security of India to be argued about in the abstract. The explanation to the section defines it as any action necessary for the security of India relating to fissionable materials or the materials from which they are derived; or relating to traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war, and to traffic in other goods and materials carried on directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying a military establishment; or taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations. Those three categories mirror the security exception in TRIPS and keep the power tied to identifiable subject matter and circumstances.
It is easy to confuse this section with the secrecy directions in Chapter VII. They work quite differently. Sections 35 to 38 deal with inventions relevant for defence purposes, where the Controller gives directions that the invention be kept secret, the directions are reviewed periodically, and the application is held in a suspended state with consequences under Section 37. Section 157A is a broader executive power exercised by the Central Government, and it goes as far as revoking a granted patent by notification.
The consequences for an applicant or patentee are serious. Information about the application will not be disclosed, so ordinary transparency mechanisms such as publication and the information right in Section 153 give way. A granted patent can cease to exist by notification rather than by a revocation petition under Section 64 decided by a court. For that reason the power is used rarely and in narrow circumstances, but its existence is a real consideration for anyone working in defence, nuclear, or dual use technology.
Practically, an inventor working in these areas should assume that the security provisions of the Act, including Section 35 secrecy directions and Section 39 foreign filing permission, will engage before Section 157A ever becomes relevant. Getting the sequence right, and in particular obtaining permission before any foreign filing, is where most avoidable problems arise.
Why this section matters
Inventors, research institutions and companies working in defence, nuclear, aerospace, cryptography, dual use and other security sensitive technologies.
At filing, during prosecution, and at any point in the life of a granted patent where the Central Government considers national security to be engaged.
A duty on the Government not to disclose security sensitive patent information, and a power to take any necessary action including revocation by notification.
Applicants in sensitive fields make disclosures, foreign filings or publications assuming ordinary rules apply, and find their rights curtailed or their conduct in breach of the secrecy and foreign filing provisions.
How it works in practice
A dual use sensor and the wrong sequence
A research group at a private institute in Pune developed an imaging sensor with civilian medical uses and an obvious application in night vision equipment. The team filed an Indian application and, two months later, a corresponding application abroad through a foreign collaborator, without seeking permission under Section 39 and without waiting for the period the Act allows. The Indian application attracted attention as relevant for defence purposes, and the Controller issued secrecy directions under Section 35, which meant the invention could not be published and prosecution was suspended. The Central Government separately holds the powers in Section 157A to withhold information and, if it considers national security to require it, to act by notification. The group's real error was procedural and came earlier. Had it applied for foreign filing permission first, the sequence would have been lawful and the collaboration could have been structured around whatever directions were issued. Sequence matters more than optimism in security sensitive fields.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Inserted by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002 to align Indian law with the TRIPS security exception.
- The Government must not disclose patent information it considers prejudicial to the security of India.
- It may take any action necessary in the interest of security, including revoking a patent by Gazette notification.
- Security of India is defined by reference to fissionable materials, traffic in arms and military supply, and time of war or emergency in international relations.
- This is different from secrecy directions under Sections 35 to 38, which are issued by the Controller and reviewed periodically.
- Revocation under this section is executive and by notification, unlike revocation on petition under Section 64.
- In practice the foreign filing permission requirement of Section 39 is the provision most often encountered first.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Confusing this section with secrecy directions under Section 35. One is an executive power of the Central Government; the other is a direction by the Controller with a review mechanism.
- Assuming security concerns only apply to weapons. The definition reaches fissionable materials and goods supplied to military establishments, and dual use technology often qualifies.
- Filing abroad first in a sensitive field without permission under Section 39, which is a separate and commonly breached requirement.
- Expecting the usual publication and information rights to operate normally where the Government has decided that disclosure would prejudice national security.
Connected provisions
- ActSection 35Secrecy directions relating to inventions relevant for defence purposes
- ActSection 39Residents not to apply for patents outside India without prior permission
- ActSection 4Inventions relating to atomic energy not patentable
- ActSection 64Revocation of patents
- ActSection 118Contravention of secrecy provisions relating to certain inventions
The rules connected to a section are listed on their own because they are subordinate legislation. They cannot go beyond the Act, but they can be changed by notification without a new statute, so seeing them separately makes it easier to check whether the current procedure is still what you remember.
Forms, deadlines and fees
We do not publish fee amounts. The First Schedule sets them, and they differ by category of applicant, such as a natural person, a startup, a small entity or another applicant, and by the mode of filing. Check the Schedule currently in force before you calculate anything. How Indian patent fees work.
Amendment history
What changed in this provision, newest first. Read the footnotes in the official consolidated text for the full record.
- 2002The Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002The section was inserted. Nothing in the Act requires disclosure of information the Central Government considers prejudicial to the security of India, and action may be taken, including revoking a patent, in the interest of that security.
Compiled from official consolidated texts and Gazette notifications. See the site-wide change log.
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 157A
Can the Indian Government revoke a patent for national security reasons?
Yes. Section 157A allows the Central Government to take any action it considers necessary in the interest of the security of India, including revoking a patent, by issuing a notification in the Official Gazette. This is an executive power and is different from revocation on a petition under Section 64, which is decided by a court on specified grounds. The section defines security of India by reference to fissionable materials, traffic in arms and military supply, and action taken in time of war or emergency in international relations.
How is Section 157A different from secrecy directions under Section 35?
Section 35 lets the Controller direct that an invention relevant for defence purposes be kept secret, with periodic review under Section 36, consequences for prosecution under Section 37, and revocation of the directions under Section 38. It operates within the patent office process. Section 157A is a wider power in the hands of the Central Government to withhold information and to act, including by revoking a patent through a Gazette notification. In practice an applicant in a sensitive field encounters Section 35 long before Section 157A.
I work on dual use technology. What should I do before filing abroad?
Deal with Section 39 first. A person resident in India generally may not apply for a patent outside India for an invention unless permission has been granted under Rule 71, using Form 25, or unless an application has first been filed in India and the period specified in the Act has passed without any secrecy direction being issued. Breach carries consequences under Section 40, including the Indian application being deemed abandoned, and offences under Section 118 relate to contravention of the secrecy provisions.
Will my application be published if it touches on security matters?
Not necessarily in the normal way. Section 157A requires the Government not to disclose information relating to a patentable invention or an application where disclosure is considered prejudicial to the security of India, and secrecy directions under Section 35 independently prevent publication while they are in force. Applicants in these fields should plan on the assumption that ordinary publication timelines and the information right in Section 153 may not operate as they would for an ordinary application.
Working on defence, nuclear or dual use technology?
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