Section 24B of the Patents Act, 1970
Grant of exclusive rights
An omitted provision that once set the conditions for granting exclusive marketing rights and limited how long those rights could last.
Official legal text
Indian drafting practice deletes a provision by omitting it, not by closing the gap. Renumbering would break thousands of existing citations, so the number is retained with a note. Records made while the provision was in force still cite it, which is the main reason this page exists.
This explanation is written for clarity, not for citation. The official statutory text and any Gazette notification in force on your date govern, and they prevail over anything said here.
What this section says, in plain language
Where the entry provision allowed an application to be made, this one governed the decision. Exclusive marketing rights were not given for the asking. The applicant had to show a specific combination of facts: that a patent had been granted for the same invention in a convention country after the start of 1995, that approval to sell or distribute the article had been obtained in that country, and that approval to sell or distribute the article had also been obtained in India. Only then could the Controller grant the exclusive right to sell or distribute the article in India, and the invention still had to be one that could in principle be patented under the Act.
The right that resulted was deliberately short-lived and narrow. It lasted for a period of five years from the grant of the exclusive right, or until a patent was granted or the underlying application was rejected, whichever came first. It covered selling and distributing the article, not the full bundle of rights that a patent gives. The whole chapter was omitted by the Patents (Amendment) Act 2005, once product patents for medicines and agrochemicals became available and the transitional arrangement had served its purpose. Anyone assessing conduct from that era still has to work with these conditions; nobody filing today does.
Why this section matters
Anyone analysing the pre-2005 Indian pharmaceutical market or a right that was exercised during that period.
Only historically, in relation to exclusive rights granted before the 2005 amendment.
Nothing today. It formerly created the conditions for, and the limited duration of, exclusive marketing rights.
Overstating what an exclusive marketing right actually covered, which was selling and distribution, not the full scope of patent rights.
How it works in practice
Five years, or less
In a study of the transitional period, a policy researcher at a Delhi think tank compared an exclusive marketing right with a patent. She set out the differences in a table. A patent ran for twenty years from the date of the application and gave the right to prevent making, using, offering for sale, selling and importing. An exclusive marketing right ran for at most five years, ended early if the underlying application was granted or rejected, and reached only selling and distributing the article in India. It also depended on approvals that a small Indian innovator was unlikely to have, since it required a patent and a marketing approval in a convention country as well as an approval in India. Her conclusion was that the mechanism was designed for multinational originators during a defined transition, and that its removal in 2005 simply reflected the arrival of the permanent regime.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Exclusive marketing rights required a foreign patent granted after the start of 1995, foreign marketing approval, and Indian marketing approval.
- The right covered selling and distributing the article in India, not the full scope of patent rights.
- It lasted a maximum of five years, and ended earlier if the underlying patent application was granted or rejected.
- The provision was omitted by the Patents (Amendment) Act 2005.
Connected provisions
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
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 24B
How long did an exclusive marketing right last?
Up to five years from the date it was granted, and it ended sooner if a patent was granted on the underlying application or that application was rejected. It was therefore a bridge, not a substitute for a patent. Once product patents for medicines and agrochemicals became available in India in 2005, the chapter creating these rights was omitted and no further exclusive marketing rights could be granted.
Was an exclusive marketing right the same as a patent?
No. A patent gives the right to prevent others from making, using, offering for sale, selling and importing the invention, and it runs for twenty years from the date of the application. An exclusive marketing right was far narrower: it covered selling and distributing a specific article in India, lasted at most five years, and depended on approvals and a patent obtained in another country.
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