Rule 115 of the Patents Rules, 2003
Payment of fees
Fixes the fees a person must pay to be registered as a patent agent and to keep that registration alive each year.
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
Chapter XV of the Patents Rules deals with patent agents. A patent agent is a person whose name appears on the Controller's register and who is allowed to prepare, sign and file patent papers on behalf of other people. Rule 115 is the money rule of that chapter. It tells you which payments the register runs on and when they have to reach the Patent Office.
There are two broad kinds of payment. The first kind is one-time and gets you in: the fee for sitting the qualifying examination, and the fee payable when the Controller is satisfied that you qualify and enters your name in the register. The second kind is recurring: a fee that has to be paid periodically to keep your name on the register year after year. Every amount is listed in the First Schedule to the Rules, so no amount is written into Rule 115 itself and none is repeated here.
Payment follows the ordinary fee machinery in Rule 7. Fees are paid through the Patent Office e-filing system or at the appropriate office, and the payment must actually be credited before the office treats the step as done. Filing the registration application in Form 22 without the fee does not start the clock; the office looks for the application and the payment together.
The recurring fee is the part people forget. It is not tied to any file or client, so no examination report or renewal notice arrives to remind an agent about it. If the fee is not paid when it falls due, the Controller can remove the name from the register under Rule 116. A removed agent is no longer a patent agent in law, and the only way back is restoration under Rule 117, which costs more than simply paying on time would have.
For applicants, this rule matters indirectly but sharply. When you sign a Form 26 authorising an agent, you are relying on that person still being on the register. If their name has been removed for non-payment, papers they sign for you can be objected to. Asking an agent for their registration number and checking the published list is a small habit worth having.
Why this rule matters
Candidates sitting the patent agent examination, registered patent agents, and IP firms that pay fees for a team of agents.
At the point of applying for registration, and then at every annual fee due date for as long as the person practises.
An obligation to pay prescribed amounts on time as the price of holding and keeping the status of registered patent agent.
The name can be struck off the register, the person loses the right to act as an agent, and restoration becomes necessary.
How it works in practice
A busy year and a missed payment
Devika Menon is a patent agent in Pune who works alone. For six years her office manager paid her continuation fee on time. In the seventh year the manager left, and Devika was travelling for client hearings when the payment fell due. Nobody paid it. Months later she filed a fresh application for a client, Saptagiri Instruments Pvt Ltd, and signed the papers as an agent. The Patent Office wrote back saying her name was no longer on the register of patent agents, so the signature could not be accepted. Devika had to apply for restoration of her name and pay both the outstanding amount and the restoration fee, while Saptagiri's papers were re-signed and re-filed. Nothing about her competence had changed. The whole problem was a fee that nobody had diarised. Devika now keeps the due date in the same calendar she uses for client renewal deadlines, and her engagement letter tells clients her registration number so they can verify it themselves.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Rule 115 governs the fees for registration as a patent agent and for keeping the registration alive.
- Every amount is set out in the First Schedule, not in the rule itself.
- The registration application on Form 22 is only complete when the prescribed fee is paid.
- The continuing fee falls due periodically; no client file or reminder is attached to it.
- Non-payment leads to removal under Rule 116 and a costlier restoration under Rule 117.
- Applicants should check that the agent signing their papers is still on the register.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Thinking that passing the qualifying examination alone makes you a patent agent. Registration happens only when the Controller enters your name after the prescribed fee is paid.
- Assuming the Patent Office will send a reminder before the continuation fee falls due, the way it does not for renewal of a patent either.
- Believing a lapsed registration can be cured simply by paying the old fee later; once the name is removed, the restoration route applies.
- Confusing patent agent fees with the fees payable on a patent application. They are separate items in the First Schedule and separate obligations.
Connected provisions
Rules and sections are cited differently and amended differently. On a rule page the connected sections are therefore kept in a separate list, so that a reader quoting this material can attribute each requirement to the correct instrument.
Forms, deadlines and fees
Forms used under the Patents Rules are prescribed in the Second Schedule. They are revised when the Rules change, so download the current version from the Patent Office website rather than reusing a copy saved earlier.
- The fee that keeps a patent agent's name on the register falls due periodically, and the exact due date must be checked against the current Rules and the First Schedule.
Open the deadline calculator — and have every date confirmed against the current Rules before you rely on it.
Any official fee connected with this provision is fixed by the First Schedule to the Patents Rules, not by the provision itself. The amount depends on who the applicant is and on whether the filing is made online or on paper, so no figures are reproduced here. 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 Rule 115
How much does it cost to register as a patent agent in India?
The amounts are not stated in Rule 115. They sit in the First Schedule to the Patents Rules, which is revised from time to time, and they differ for the qualifying examination and for registration itself. Always work from the current First Schedule or the Patent Office fee page rather than an older figure quoted in a blog. Rule 115 only tells you that these fees exist, that they must be paid to the Patent Office, and that registration is not effective until payment is made.
What happens if a patent agent does not pay the continuation fee?
The Controller may remove the person's name from the register of patent agents under Rule 116. From that point the person is not a registered agent and cannot validly sign or file patent documents for other people. Work already done does not disappear, but new papers signed after removal can be objected to. The person can apply to have the name restored under Rule 117, which involves a fresh application and further payment. Paying on time is far cheaper and far less disruptive.
Can a company pay the registration fee on behalf of its in-house patent agent?
Yes. Rule 115 is concerned with the fee being paid, not with whose bank account it comes from. Many firms and corporate IP departments pay the registration and continuation fees for the agents they employ, and record the payment against each agent's name. The registration itself, however, remains personal to the individual. It belongs to the agent, not to the employer, and it travels with the agent if they change jobs. Keep the payment receipt linked to the agent's registration number.
Is the patent agent fee the same as the fee on a patent application?
No. A patent application attracts its own fees, such as the filing fee and the fee for a request for examination, and those depend on the type of applicant and the number of claims and pages. The patent agent fee under Rule 115 is a professional registration cost paid by the individual agent. The two are listed separately in the First Schedule. Confusing them is common when a firm reconciles its yearly Patent Office spending against client billing.
Need help with patent agent registration and fees?
MYCrave Consultancy guides candidates and firms through patent agent registration, fee payment and keeping a registration in good standing.
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