Section 24 of the Patents Act, 1970
Effect of acceptance of complete specification
An omitted provision that once gave an applicant patent-like privileges from the advertisement of acceptance until the patent was sealed.
Official legal text
The number is still shown because Indian statutes are not renumbered when something is taken out. The provision is simply marked as omitted. Documents created before the change, including granted patents and decided cases, continue to cite it, so the reference has to remain understandable.
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
There is always a gap between the moment the world learns about an invention through the Patent Office and the moment the patent actually issues. Under the old scheme that gap ran from the advertisement of acceptance to the sealing of the patent, and this provision filled it. It gave the applicant, during that interval, the like privileges and rights as if a patent had already been sealed. The catch was that the applicant could not bring infringement proceedings until the patent was actually granted, though the rights during the interval could be relied on once it was.
The provision has been omitted, but the idea behind it survives in the current Act. The modern publication provision performs the same protective function from a different starting point: from the date an application is published until the date the patent is granted, the applicant has the like privileges and rights as if a patent had been granted, and no infringement proceedings can be brought until grant. The practical advice is unchanged in substance. Once your application is published, keep records of anyone copying it, but expect to wait until grant before you can sue.
Why this section matters
Applicants whose inventions are copied during the wait between publication and grant, and anyone assessing old claims for that period.
Historically, between advertisement of acceptance and sealing; the equivalent question today arises between publication and grant.
Nothing today. It formerly created interim rights during the pre-sealing gap.
An applicant may wrongly believe there is no protection at all between publication and grant, and stop keeping evidence of copying.
How it works in practice
Copied after publication, sued after grant
A Ludhiana bicycle components firm published a patent application for a quick-release hub with a locking cam. Within four months a competitor was selling a near-identical hub. The firm's first instinct was to sue immediately. Its adviser explained the position: under the current Act the applicant has the like privileges and rights as if the patent had been granted from the date of publication, but infringement proceedings cannot be started until the patent is actually granted. So the firm did not sue. Instead it bought and preserved samples, kept dated invoices and photographs, recorded the competitor's catalogue and prices, and had the hub examined against its published claims. Two years later the patent was granted, and the firm then sued, with the evidence of the intervening period ready. Under the old, omitted scheme the same waiting problem existed; only the starting date was different.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- The omitted provision gave an applicant patent-like privileges between advertisement of acceptance and sealing, but no right to sue before the patent issued.
- It was removed when the acceptance and sealing scheme was replaced.
- The current Act achieves the same result from the date of publication of the application until grant, again with no infringement suit before grant.
Connected provisions
Sections and rules are different kinds of law. A section is enacted by Parliament, while a rule is made by the Central Government using powers the Act grants. Keeping them apart shows which text you are reading and which of the two is more likely to have been revised recently.
Forms, deadlines and fees
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
No judgment summaries appear here yet. Our process requires a legal review of each case note before publication, covering the citation, the court and the point actually decided. Until a note for this provision has passed that check, the section stays empty rather than carrying unverified material. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Section 24
Can I sue someone who copies my invention after publication but before grant?
Not while the application is pending. Under the current Act you have the like privileges and rights as if a patent had been granted from the date of publication, but infringement proceedings cannot be instituted until the patent is granted. The practical response is to preserve evidence of the copying, including dated samples, invoices, catalogues and photographs, so that you can act once the patent issues.
Why was this provision removed?
Because the stage it depended on disappeared. It measured interim rights from the advertisement of acceptance of a complete specification, and the acceptance and sealing scheme was replaced when Indian patent procedure was restructured in the early 2000s. The current Act ties the same interim rights to publication of the application instead, which is a clearer and earlier point in the process.
Copied while your patent is still pending?
MYCrave Consultancy helps applicants preserve evidence during the publication-to-grant gap and act the moment the patent issues.
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