Section 67 of the Patents Act, 1970
Register of patents and particulars to be entered therein
Requires the Patent Office to maintain a register of patents recording who owns each patent and what interests affect 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.
Read this as a plain-language summary. If it and the official text, or a relevant Gazette notification, say different things, the official text and the notification are what count.
What this section says, in plain language
The register of patents is the official record of ownership. Section 67 requires it to be kept at the head office of the Patent Office, with copies available at the branch offices, under the control and management of the Controller. Anything the Act treats as affecting the ownership or standing of a patent finds its place here.
What goes in: the names and addresses of the people to whom patents are granted, and notifications of assignments, transmissions on death or by operation of law, licences, amendments allowed to specifications, extensions and revocations. Rule 88 fills in the rest of the detail, such as application numbers and dates, the title of the invention, the address for service and the record of renewal fee payments. Together these entries let anyone trace a patent from filing to its current owner.
Since the Act was amended to allow electronic records, the register may be kept wholly or partly on computer, and the printed extract you download is treated as the register for the purposes of inspection. This is why the online status page for a patent, with its list of renewals and recorded assignments, matters in practice and not merely as a convenience.
One limitation is worth knowing. The register does not record trusts. If shares in a patent are held by one person for the benefit of another under a trust arrangement, no notice of that trust is entered, and the Controller is not affected by it. The register speaks about legal title, not about beneficial arrangements behind it, and anyone relying on it must remember that.
Why this section matters
Patentees, buyers and sellers of patents, licensees, lenders taking security over patents, due diligence teams and litigators.
From the moment a patent is granted, and every time ownership or an interest in it changes.
A public, official record of title and of interests affecting each patent, and a duty on the Controller to maintain it.
Deals get done against a stale picture of ownership, renewals are missed because nobody was tracking the record, and a buyer discovers too late that the seller was never the registered proprietor.
How it works in practice
Due diligence before buying a patent
Kestrel Robotics Pvt Ltd, Pune, wants to buy a granted patent on a gripper mechanism from a Nashik engineering firm. Before signing, Kestrel's adviser pulls the register entry. It shows the original grantee, one assignment recorded three years ago to a holding company, an address for service in Mumbai, renewal fees paid up to the tenth year, and an amendment to the claims allowed after grant. The seller on Kestrel's draft agreement is the operating company, not the holding company shown on the register. Kestrel pauses the deal and asks for the chain of documents. It turns out the group restructured internally but never recorded the second transfer. Kestrel insists that the holding company sign as assignor, or that the earlier internal transfer be recorded first, and makes payment conditional on the register being updated. It also notes the amended claim set, which is narrower than the version in the seller's data room, and reprices the deal accordingly.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- The register is the official record of who owns each Indian patent and what interests attach to it.
- It is kept at the head office, with copies at branch offices, under the Controller's control.
- Entries cover grantees, assignments, transmissions, licences, amendments, extensions and revocations.
- Rule 88 sets out the detailed particulars that must appear.
- The register may be kept in electronic form, and a printout of an entry counts as the register.
- No notice of any trust is entered, so beneficial ownership is invisible on the record.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Treating the register as proof that the patent is valid. It records ownership and events, not the strength of the invention.
- Assuming the register updates itself when a company merges or an owner dies. Someone has to apply to have the change recorded.
- Believing a beneficial owner is protected by the register. Trust arrangements are not entered, so they must be handled by contract.
Connected provisions
- ActSection 68Assignments, etc., not to be valid unless in writing and duly executed
- ActSection 69Registration of assignments, transmissions, etc.
- ActSection 70Power of registered grantee or proprietor to deal with patent
- ActSection 72Register to be open for inspection
- ActSection 71Rectification of register by High Court
You will find the related rules grouped below rather than inside the explanation. The separation is deliberate. The Act and the Rules are distinct legal instruments, and mixing them can lead a reader to attribute a procedural requirement to the statute itself.
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 67
Is the register the same as the online patent status page?
In practical terms they overlap. The Patent Office maintains the register electronically, and the status information published for each application and patent draws on the same records. A printed extract of the electronic register is treated as the register for inspection. For serious transactions, though, people usually take a certified copy of the entry rather than relying on a screen capture, because a certified copy carries evidentiary weight under the Act.
Does the register show licences?
It shows licences that someone has applied to have recorded. It does not show licences the parties kept to themselves. So the absence of a licence entry does not mean the patent is unencumbered. A buyer should ask for warranties about unrecorded licences and, where possible, insist that existing licences be recorded so their terms are traceable. The same caution applies to security interests, which are often created quietly and never entered.
Who can look at the register?
Anyone. Section 72 makes the register open to inspection subject to the conditions in the Rules and on payment of the prescribed fee, and certified copies of entries are supplied on request. That openness is deliberate: the public is entitled to know who holds a monopoly, whether it is still in force and who to approach for a licence. You need not explain why you want to look, and the patentee is not told that you did.
What happens to the register when a patent lapses or is revoked?
The event is recorded. A lapse for non-payment of renewal fees, a restoration under section 60, a surrender under section 63 and a revocation by a court or the Controller all show up as entries. That is why checking the register is the first step before threatening or defending an infringement claim, since a patent that lapsed two years ago cannot support one.
Need to verify who really owns a patent?
MYCrave Consultancy runs register searches and title checks so you know exactly what you are buying, licensing or lending against.
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