Section 24E of the Patents Act, 1970
Suits relating to infringements
An omitted provision that once applied the Act's infringement suit machinery to exclusive marketing rights as if they were patents.
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 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
A right is only as good as the remedy behind it. Exclusive marketing rights gave their holder the sole right to sell or distribute an article in India, and this provision supplied the enforcement side of that right. Rather than writing a fresh procedure, it borrowed the existing one: the provisions of the Act dealing with suits for infringement of patents were applied, with the necessary modifications, to suits relating to infringement of exclusive marketing rights.
That borrowing carried both the sword and the shield. The holder could sue and seek the reliefs available in patent infringement suits, but the defences, the jurisdictional rules and the restrictions on remedies came along too. The provision went out with the rest of the exclusive marketing rights chapter under the Patents (Amendment) Act 2005. Infringement suits in India today concern granted patents and are governed by the enforcement chapter of the Act, which sets out jurisdiction, the burden of proof in process patent cases, defences, acts that are not infringement, and the reliefs a court may grant.
Why this section matters
Litigators tracing old disputes about articles sold under exclusive marketing rights, and students of Indian patent enforcement.
Only historically; enforcement today runs on the current infringement provisions.
Nothing today. It formerly extended patent infringement procedure to exclusive marketing rights.
Assuming that exclusive marketing rights were unenforceable, or conversely that they carried remedies beyond those available for patents.
How it works in practice
Borrowed procedure, borrowed defences
A litigation team in Mumbai was asked to advise on a dispute that had begun during the transition years, when a holder of exclusive marketing rights sued a distributor for selling the same article. The team's first question was procedural: which rules applied, since the right was not a patent. The answer lay in this provision, which applied the Act's patent infringement machinery to such suits with the necessary modifications. That answer cut both ways for the client. The holder could seek the reliefs available in a patent suit, but the distributor could raise the defences available in a patent suit, and the rules on jurisdiction and on restrictions on damages applied as well. The team's advice was that the borrowing was complete rather than selective. Any modern dispute would instead be run entirely under the current enforcement chapter, because no exclusive marketing rights remain in force.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- The provision applied the Act's patent infringement suit machinery to exclusive marketing rights.
- Both the remedies and the defences of patent litigation applied to those suits.
- It was omitted by the Patents (Amendment) Act 2005; infringement suits today concern granted patents only.
Connected provisions
Indian patent law works in two layers. The Act carries the substance and the Rules carry the machinery. Because the layers are amended by different processes and at different times, they are presented in separate blocks instead of being merged into one description.
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.
Related judgments
Case law is added slowly and deliberately. A summary is drafted, checked against the reported judgment and then reviewed before publication, because a wrong case note can mislead a reader badly. No summary for this provision has reached publication yet. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Section 24E
Could a holder of exclusive marketing rights sue for infringement?
Yes, during the period the rights were in force. This provision applied the Act's patent infringement machinery to such suits with the necessary modifications, so the holder could go to court and seek the reliefs available in a patent action. The same borrowing meant the defendant could raise the defences available in a patent action. The chapter was omitted in 2005, so no such suit can arise from any right granted today.
What governs patent infringement suits in India now?
The enforcement chapter of the Act. It deals with which courts have jurisdiction, the burden of proof in suits concerning process patents, declarations of non-infringement, relief against groundless threats, the defences available, acts that are not treated as infringement including research and regulatory use, and the reliefs a court may grant, such as injunctions and, at the plaintiff's option, damages or an account of profits.
Enforcing or defending a patent in India?
MYCrave Consultancy advises on infringement strategy, defences and forum under the current Indian enforcement provisions.
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