Rule 35 of the Patents Rules, 2003
Manner in which a request may be made under section 20(4)
Explains how to ask the Controller to let a pending application continue in the name of a dead applicant's legal representative or a successor body.
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
Patent applications outlive people and companies. An individual inventor may die while the application is still under examination. A company may cease to exist because it merged, amalgamated or was dissolved. In either case the application does not simply vanish, and it does not automatically pass into someone's hands on the Patent Office file. Somebody has to ask the Controller to record the change, and this rule says how.
The request is made on Form 6 with the fee prescribed in the First Schedule, and it must be supported by two kinds of proof. The first shows the triggering event: a death certificate for an individual, or the order, scheme or registrar's record showing that the body corporate has ceased to exist. The second shows that the person now asking is the right person. For an individual that usually means probate, letters of administration, a succession certificate or an equivalent order; for a company it means the amalgamation order or transfer document that carried the assets across.
The Controller is careful here for an obvious reason. The person named on a pending application will end up owning a patent that may run for twenty years from its filing date, so the Office will not substitute a name on the strength of a family assertion. Where the heirs disagree among themselves, the Office is not the forum to sort it out. The Controller can wait for a competent court to decide who is entitled and then act on that decision.
Two practical habits save a lot of trouble. Keep the address for service and the agent's authority current, because after a death the Office will still be writing to whoever is on record, and examination deadlines keep running whether or not anyone is reading the post. And deal with the substitution early rather than at the last moment, since collecting a succession certificate takes far longer than most families expect.
Why this rule matters
Legal heirs and executors of an inventor who has died, and companies that have absorbed another company holding pending applications.
Between filing and grant, as soon as the applicant dies or the applicant company ceases to exist.
A route for the legal representative or successor to be substituted so the application can be prosecuted and granted in the correct name.
Nobody with authority can answer the examination report, the application can lapse or be abandoned, and years of priority are lost.
How it works in practice
An application that outlived its inventor
Dr Suresh Nambiar of Kochi filed a complete specification for a portable device that measures salinity in backwater fish ponds. Examination was under way when he died. His daughter Lakshmi, who had helped build the prototypes, assumed the family would deal with the patent later. Three months of correspondence from the Patent Office went to her father's old address. When the family finally consulted an agent, the reply period was nearly over. The agent filed Form 6 with the prescribed fee, attached the death certificate and the succession certificate the family had obtained, and asked that the application proceed in Lakshmi's name as legal representative. He simultaneously updated the address for service and filed the reply to the examination report. The Controller accepted the substitution and the application went forward. Had the family waited another six weeks, the application would have gone abandoned for failure to put it in order in time, and no substitution could have revived the invention's priority.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- The request is made on Form 6 with the fee prescribed in the First Schedule.
- Proof of the death, or of the body corporate ceasing to exist, must be filed.
- Proof of the requester's entitlement is also needed, such as probate, letters of administration or a succession certificate.
- Examination deadlines keep running during the change, so update the address for service immediately.
- Where heirs are in dispute, the Controller may wait for a court to decide entitlement.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Assuming the application passes to the family automatically on death. The Office acts on a request supported by proof, not on inheritance alone.
- Leaving the deceased applicant's address on record, so official communications and deadlines are missed.
- Waiting to collect succession documents before doing anything else, instead of filing the reply to the examination report in parallel.
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
Prescribed forms sit in the Second Schedule to the Patents Rules. The Schedule is updated along with the Rules, so the safe practice is to download the form on the day you prepare it and check that it is the current version.
- Substitution does not pause examination. The application must still be put in order for grant within the period fixed by the Act and Rules, so file the request and keep answering the Office at the same time.
Open the deadline calculator — and have every date confirmed against the current Rules before you rely on it.
This site does not carry a fee table. The First Schedule to the Patents Rules is the source, the rates vary with the applicant's category and with the mode of filing, and a figure quoted second-hand goes out of date quietly. 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 35
What happens to a patent application if the applicant dies in India?
The application survives, but the Patent Office will not change the name by itself. The legal representative files Form 6 with the fee prescribed in the First Schedule, along with the death certificate and proof of entitlement such as probate, letters of administration or a succession certificate. If satisfied, the Controller directs that the application proceed in that person's name. Deadlines continue to run throughout, so the reply to any pending examination report should be filed without waiting.
How is a merged company's pending patent application transferred?
Where the applicant company has ceased to exist through amalgamation or a similar process, the successor files Form 6 and produces the order or scheme showing the transfer of assets, together with proof of the original company's cessation. The Controller checks that the document actually carries the application across. Listing pending applications by number in the scheme or transfer annexure makes the request straightforward and avoids follow-up queries.
Do I need a succession certificate to continue my parent's patent application?
You need proof that you are entitled to represent the estate, and a succession certificate is one of the usual ways to show it. Probate of a will or letters of administration serve the same purpose. The right document depends on how the estate is being handled, so this is worth checking with a lawyer early. What matters at the Patent Office is that the proof filed with Form 6 links you clearly to the deceased applicant.
An applicant has died or a company has ceased to exist?
MYCrave Consultancy prepares the substitution request and keeps the application alive while the paperwork is assembled.
You will be speaking with MYCrave Consultancy & Services, the firm that operates this platform. General questions are answered free; matter‑specific work is quoted before anything is done.