Section 70 of the Patents Act, 1970
Power of registered grantee or proprietor to deal with patent
Gives the person shown on the register as the patent's owner the power to assign, licence and otherwise deal with it and to take payment.
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.
This explanation is written for clarity, not for citation.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
Section 70 answers a simple commercial question: whose signature can move a patent. The person registered as grantee or proprietor of a patent has the power to assign the patent, to grant licences under it, or otherwise to deal with it, and to give valid receipts for the money paid for any such assignment, licence or dealing. A buyer or licensee dealing with the registered proprietor is dealing with the right person.
That power is not absolute. It is subject to the other provisions of the Act, to the rights of any other person of which notice is entered in the register, and to any equities affecting the patent, which may be enforced in the same way as equities affecting any other kind of property. In other words, the register protects you only up to the point where the register itself, or ordinary principles of fairness, tell you that someone else has a claim.
Read with sections 68 and 69, the design becomes clear. Section 68 says the deal must be in writing and executed. Section 69 says get it recorded. Section 70 rewards recordal by treating the recorded proprietor as the person entitled to deal, and by putting anyone whose interest is on the register on the map so that later buyers take subject to it. An unrecorded mortgagee or licensee is invisible and can be leapfrogged.
Where a patent is co-owned, section 70 does not override section 50. Co-owners hold in undivided shares and, absent an agreement, one co-owner generally cannot grant a licence or assign a share without the consent of the others. So being on the register as one of two proprietors gives you power over your own dealings only to the extent that the co-ownership rules allow.
Why this section matters
Buyers, licensees and lenders who need to know that the person signing can actually deliver, and holders of interests who need to be visible on the register.
At the point of any transaction touching the patent, and whenever money changes hands under it.
A statutory power in the registered proprietor to deal with the patent and give good receipts, subject to recorded interests and to equities.
A lender or licensee who never records its interest can be defeated by a later dealing, and a buyer who ignores recorded interests takes the patent burdened by them.
How it works in practice
Two lenders and one gripper patent
Sarayu Machine Tools Pvt Ltd, Rajkot, borrows working capital from a cooperative bank and offers its granted patent on a self-aligning chuck as security. The mortgage deed is properly executed but nobody applies to record it. Eight months later Sarayu borrows again, this time from a Surat non-banking lender, offering the same patent. The second lender searches the register, sees Sarayu as sole proprietor with no interests recorded, and files to have its mortgage entered. When Sarayu defaults, both lenders claim the patent. The second lender points to the register: it dealt with the registered proprietor, who had the statutory power to create the interest, and it recorded its own charge. The first lender has a valid document but no entry, and now has to argue that the second lender knew of its charge. The dispute turns on facts that could have been avoided by a single recordal filing costing a fraction of the loan.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- The registered proprietor is the person with power to assign, licence or otherwise deal with the patent.
- Payment made to the registered proprietor is validly discharged by their receipt.
- The power is subject to any other person's rights that are noted on the register.
- It is also subject to equities, which are enforced as they would be for any other property.
- Recording your interest is what makes it visible to, and binding on, later dealers.
- Co-ownership rules in section 50 still control what a single co-owner can do alone.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Believing that a valid unrecorded licence or charge beats a later recorded one. Being right on paper is not the same as being visible on the register.
- Assuming the registered proprietor can always give clean title. Recorded interests and equities travel with the patent.
- Treating one co-owner as able to licence the whole patent. Without the other co-owners' consent, that licence may be worthless.
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
Any form mentioned here is prescribed by the Second Schedule. Amendments to the Rules often bring new versions of forms with them, so use the version currently published by the Patent Office, not a template from a book or an old file.
Where a fee is payable under this provision, the figure comes from the First Schedule. Categories of applicant are charged at different rates, and electronic filing is treated differently from paper filing, so an accurate number can only come from the Schedule in force on the day you file. 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 70
If I buy from the registered proprietor, is my title safe?
You are in a strong position, but not automatically safe. The section makes the registered proprietor the person with power to deal, so your transaction is not undermined merely because someone else claims to be the real owner behind the scenes. However, interests noted on the register bind you, and equities can be enforced against the patent as against other property. Practical protection means searching the register on the day of closing, taking warranties on unrecorded interests, and recording your own acquisition promptly.
What are equities in this context?
They are fairness-based claims that attach to property, such as the rights of a beneficiary under a trust, the claim of someone who paid for a patent that was registered in another's name, or a prior agreement to assign that was never completed. The Act says these can be enforced against a patent in the same way as against other property. They sit outside the register, which is exactly why a purchaser should ask questions rather than rely on the entry alone.
Can a licensee rely on this section to sub-licence?
No. This section is about the registered proprietor's power, not a licensee's. A licensee's ability to sub-licence comes only from the licence agreement itself. If the agreement is silent, assume there is no right to sub-licence, and negotiate the point expressly when the licence is drafted rather than arguing about it later. A sub-licence granted without authority binds nobody, and it can also put the licensee in breach of its own licence, which may give the patentee a right to terminate.
Does this section decide ownership disputes?
It does not. It tells the world who may deal with the patent, which is a question of power rather than a final determination of who owns it. A person who says the register is wrong has to apply to the High Court under section 71 to have the register rectified, or to have the ownership question settled in a suit. Until that happens, the registered proprietor remains the one who can transact.
Buying or lending against an Indian patent?
MYCrave Consultancy checks the register, traces recorded interests and structures deals so the person signing can actually deliver the rights.
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