Rule 106 of the Patents Rules, 2003
Power to relax
Allows the requirements for the roll of scientific advisers to be relaxed in a deserving case, for recorded reasons.
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.
Nothing here replaces the statute. The official wording of the provision, together with any Gazette notification that applies to it, governs. This page only explains that material in ordinary language.
What this rule requires, step by step
Eligibility rules work by drawing lines. Lines are useful, but they occasionally exclude exactly the person a court most needs. Consider a self-taught instrumentation specialist whose formal degree does not match the wording of the rule, or a researcher whose years of experience fall a little short of the stated figure but who is the acknowledged authority on a very narrow technology.
Rule 106 provides the safety valve. It allows the requirements laid down in the rules relating to the roll of scientific advisers to be relaxed where that is considered necessary or expedient. The power is exercised at the level of the Central Government, which is the authority under whose control the roll is maintained by virtue of section 115.
The power is not open-ended, and two features keep it honest. First, it is exercised case by case, in favour of a named person for a stated reason, rather than by quietly lowering the standard for everyone. Second, the reasons must be recorded in writing. A written reason can be examined later, which is the ordinary Indian administrative-law safeguard against arbitrary favour.
What cannot be relaxed away is the purpose of the roll. The point of listing an adviser is that a court can rely on that person's technical judgement and independence. A relaxation that let in someone whose expertise or integrity was in doubt would defeat the very object of section 115, so the power is used sparingly and normally to accommodate an unusual career path rather than to overlook a real deficiency.
For applicants, the sensible approach is not to bank on relaxation. Build the strongest application you can on the ordinary requirements, and if some requirement genuinely does not fit your career, say so openly, explain why your expertise still serves the purpose of the roll, and let the request for relaxation be considered on that footing.
Why this rule matters
Experts whose unusual qualifications or career paths do not fit neatly within the standard eligibility conditions.
When an application for inclusion in the roll is being considered and one requirement cannot be met in the usual way.
A discretionary power to relax a requirement, coupled with a duty to record the reasons in writing.
Without it, the roll would lose genuinely outstanding specialists on technicalities; used carelessly, it would weaken the credibility of the roll itself.
How it works in practice
The instrumentation specialist who did not fit the box
Fatima Sheikh spent twenty-eight years designing and building precision measurement instruments, first at a defence laboratory and then at an aerospace supplier near Bengaluru. Courts hearing disputes over optical alignment systems would have benefited enormously from her knowledge, but her formal qualification was a diploma followed by a long apprenticeship, and her degree came much later in her career, so on a strict reading her paperwork did not sit comfortably within the standard eligibility wording. Her application set the position out plainly instead of glossing over it. It attached her employment record, seventeen granted patents naming her as inventor, and letters from two national laboratories describing her as a leading authority on interferometric alignment. Considering the matter under Rule 106, the Government recorded in writing that relaxing the qualification requirement in her case was expedient, because her documented experience and standing served the purpose of section 115 better than a formal degree would have, and her name was included against that narrow field.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Rule 106 allows the requirements relating to the roll of scientific advisers to be relaxed in an individual case.
- The power sits with the Central Government, under whose authority the roll is maintained.
- Relaxation must be supported by reasons recorded in writing.
- It is meant for unusual but genuine career paths, not for overlooking a real lack of expertise or a disqualification.
- Applicants should build their case on the ordinary requirements and raise relaxation openly if something genuinely does not fit.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Treating relaxation as a right that can be demanded. It is a discretion exercised for recorded reasons in an appropriate case.
- Hiding a shortfall in qualification or experience and hoping it will be relaxed silently. Disclosure with an explanation is far stronger.
- Assuming a relaxation for one person changes the standard for everyone else. Each case stands on its own record.
Connected provisions
This page explains a rule of the Patents Rules, 2003. A rule does not stand on its own; it works out a duty or a power that the Patents Act, 1970 has already created. The parent sections are listed separately so you can read the source of that authority.
Forms, deadlines and fees
Fees are prescribed in the First Schedule to the Patents Rules. Because the Schedule is revised from time to time, and charges different amounts to different categories of applicant and for physical as against electronic filing, this page describes the fee without stating a figure. How Indian patent fees work.
Related judgments
You will not find case summaries under this heading today. Each one must pass a legal review before it appears, and that work has not been completed for this provision. If you are researching decided cases, use a law report or a court database in the meantime. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Rule 106
Which requirements can be relaxed under Rule 106?
The rule is directed at the requirements laid down for the roll of scientific advisers, such as the qualification and experience conditions. It is not a general power to set aside the Patents Act. In particular, it should not be read as a way around the integrity disqualifications, because those exist to protect the courts that rely on advisers. If you are unsure whether the requirement you cannot meet is one that can be relaxed, check the current text of the Rules and take advice before applying on that basis.
Do I have to apply separately for relaxation?
There is no separate proceeding. The practical course is to make your ordinary application for inclusion in the roll, state clearly which requirement your background does not meet, explain why, and set out with evidence why your expertise still serves the purpose for which the roll exists. The authority can then consider relaxation on a complete record. An application that hides the gap gives no one anything to relax, and is simply liable to be refused.
Will I be told the reasons if relaxation is refused?
Decisions of this kind are administrative decisions affecting a person's interests, and Indian administrative law expects such decisions to be made fairly and, where they are adverse, to be capable of being explained. The rule itself requires reasons to be recorded when the power is exercised. As a practical matter, if you receive an adverse decision without reasons, you can write and request them, and reasons are useful if you later want to reapply after strengthening your position.
Does relaxation make my listing weaker in a court's eyes?
It should not. The roll records a person's field, qualifications and experience, and a court appointing an adviser is looking for someone who genuinely understands the technology and has no stake in the outcome. Where relaxation has been granted, it is because the person's real expertise was thought to serve that purpose. What matters in the courtroom is the quality and independence of the adviser's report, which is judged on its own terms.
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