Section 95 of the Patents Act, 1970
Provision relating to licences of right
Part of the repealed licences of right scheme, under which certain patents were marked as open for anyone to take a licence.
Official legal text
When a provision is removed, the rest of the statute is not renumbered. The number stays in place, marked as omitted, so that everything after it keeps its familiar citation. That is why this number still appears, and why older files, textbooks and judgments continue to refer to it.
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
Sections 95 to 98 formed a group in the Patents Act, 1970 that dealt with what were called licences of right. The idea was that some patents would carry a standing invitation. Once a patent was endorsed with those words, any person who wanted to work the invention could claim a licence as a matter of entitlement, instead of having to prove a case for a compulsory licence. Certain categories, notably patents connected with food, medicine and drugs and with processes for producing chemical substances, were the main focus of the scheme, and endorsement could follow automatically once a set period had passed after sealing.
This group of provisions was omitted by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002, which was brought into force in 2003. India was aligning its patent law with the TRIPS Agreement, and Article 31 of that agreement requires authorisation of use without the right holder's consent to be considered on the individual merits of each case, normally after an attempt to obtain a voluntary licence. A standing, automatic entitlement did not fit that model. Readers looking for the current law should go to Section 84 for compulsory licences, Section 91 for related patents, Sections 92 and 92A for Government notified and export situations, and Sections 99 to 103 for Government use.
Why this section matters
Anyone researching the history of Indian patent law, or reading older patents, judgments, textbooks or agreements that refer to licences of right.
Only in a historical context; the scheme has no application to patents under the present law.
Nothing today. It once created a route to a licence by entitlement rather than by proving a case.
Relying on this section now would be a mistake, because there is no entitlement to a licence of right under the Act as it stands.
How it works in practice
An old file that mentions licences of right
A research scholar at IIT Kanpur is studying how Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing grew, and finds a 1990s file note recording that a process patent was treated as endorsed with the words licences of right, so a local manufacturer could claim a licence without contesting the patentee's conduct. Trying to trace the provision in a current bare Act, the scholar finds Sections 95 to 98 shown as omitted. The explanation lies in the 2002 amendment, which removed the scheme when India moved to a TRIPS compliant framework in 2003. For a present day question, the scholar would look instead at Section 84, where a licence has to be applied for, argued and decided case by case, with grounds, prior negotiation and a hearing.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Licences of right allowed a licence to be claimed by entitlement once a patent was endorsed, without proving a case.
- The scheme was omitted by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002, in force from 2003.
- Current routes are Sections 84, 91, 92 and 92A for compulsory licences and Sections 99 to 103 for Government use.
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
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.
Amendment history
What changed in this provision, newest first. Read the footnotes in the official consolidated text for the full record.
- 2002The Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002The section was omitted with the rest of the licences of right scheme when the chapter on working and compulsory licences was replaced. Patents for food, medicine and certain chemical processes are no longer open to a licence claimed as of right.
Compiled from official consolidated texts and Gazette notifications. See the site-wide change log.
Related judgments
Case summaries are published only after a qualified reviewer has checked the judgment, the citation and the way the holding is described. Nothing has cleared that review for this provision yet, so nothing is listed here. We would rather show no case note than one that misstates what a court decided. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Section 95
Can I still claim a licence of right in India?
No. The licences of right scheme was removed from the Patents Act, 1970 by the 2002 amendment, brought into force in 2003. There is no longer any category of patent that carries an automatic entitlement to a licence. If you want to work someone else's patented invention without their agreement, you must use the routes that exist today, mainly a compulsory licence under Section 84, 91, 92 or 92A, which requires an application to the Controller, evidence and a hearing.
Why was the licences of right scheme removed?
It did not fit India's obligations under the TRIPS Agreement. Article 31 of TRIPS requires that use of a patented invention without the owner's authorisation be considered on its individual merits, generally after an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a voluntary licence on reasonable commercial terms. A scheme in which whole classes of patents were automatically open to licensing was inconsistent with that approach. The 2002 amendment therefore replaced it with the case by case compulsory licence system now found in Chapter XVI.
Not sure which patent licensing route applies today?
MYCrave explains the current compulsory licence and Government use routes that replaced the old licences of right scheme.
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