Rule 37 of the Patents Rules, 2003
Numbering of applications on the grant of patent
Provides that every application receives a separate patent number when the patent is granted, distinct from the application number it carried before.
Official legal text
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The authority is the enacted text, not this page. Where our wording and the official provision, or an applicable Gazette notification, do not match, the official material prevails.
What this rule requires, step by step
An Indian patent file carries two different numbers during its life, and mixing them up causes real problems. The application number is allotted when the application is filed and identifies the file throughout filing, publication and examination. When the patent is granted, the application is given a fresh number in a separate running series kept by the Patent Office. That is the patent number. This rule is the source of that second number.
The two numbers do different jobs. The application number is how you track prosecution: it appears on the filing receipt, on the published application, on the examination report and on most forms filed before grant. The patent number is how the granted right is identified afterwards. It appears on the patent certificate, in the entry made in the register of patents, in the notice published in the official journal, and on the renewal records that keep the patent alive.
Numbering also serves the public. Because grants are numbered in one continuous series, anyone can cite an Indian patent unambiguously, search the register, check who owns it and confirm whether the renewal fees have been paid. A clean identifier is what makes an assignment, a licence, a working statement or an infringement notice enforceable in practice. A document that describes a patent only by its title or by the applicant's name invites arguments about which right is meant.
For owners the discipline is simple. From the date of grant onwards, use the patent number in every document that touches the granted right, and keep the application number only for historical references to the file. Patent marking on products, entries in the company's asset register, licence schedules and court pleadings should all carry the patent number. Renewal reminders keyed to the wrong number are one of the more avoidable ways patents are lost.
Why this rule matters
Every patentee, their licensees and assignees, and anyone searching or citing Indian patents.
At the moment of grant, and in every document created after grant.
A unique public identifier for the granted patent, separate from the application number, used in the register, the journal and the certificate.
Assignments, licences, renewal payments and notices cite the wrong number, causing rejected filings, delays and disputes about which right is meant.
How it works in practice
The renewal that went to the wrong number
Kestrel Robotics Pvt Ltd was granted a patent on a warehouse robot in 2022. Its finance team set up a renewal reminder using the number that appeared on all the paperwork they had seen for the previous five years, which was the application number. When the renewal fell due, the junior accountant tried to pay against that number and could not find a matching granted record. He assumed the system was down and left it. A month later the company's agent ran a routine portfolio check, spotted the gap and paid within the period allowed, so no damage was done. The fix took ten minutes: the portfolio spreadsheet was rebuilt with the patent number as the primary key and the application number kept in a second column for the file history. The company's later licence agreements, its asset register and its product marking all used the patent number, and the ambiguity never came back.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- An application and a granted patent carry different numbers.
- The patent number is allotted at grant, from a continuous series maintained by the Patent Office.
- The patent number identifies the right in the certificate, the register and the official journal.
- Renewals, assignments, licences and enforcement should all cite the patent number.
- Keep the application number for tracing the file history before grant.
Common mistakes and misunderstandings
- Using the application number in a licence or assignment after grant, which creates avoidable doubt about what is being transferred.
- Assuming the two numbers are related in some predictable way. They come from different series and cannot be derived from each other.
- Marking products with the application number after the patent has been granted, instead of the number that identifies the granted right.
Connected provisions
The Patents Rules supply procedure and the Patents Act supplies power. This page covers the procedure, and the sections that give the Controller or the applicant the underlying right or duty are grouped separately so you can move between the two.
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
This part of the page is reserved for summaries of decided cases. They are added one at a time, after review by a person qualified to confirm that the summary matches the judgment. Nothing has been cleared for this provision so far, so there is nothing to show. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Rule 37
What is the difference between an application number and a patent number in India?
The application number is allotted at filing and follows the file through publication and examination. The patent number is allotted when the patent is granted and comes from a separate running series kept by the Patent Office. After grant, the patent number is the identifier that appears on the certificate, in the register of patents and in the official journal, and it is the one to use in renewals, assignments, licences and legal notices.
Where can I find the patent number for a granted Indian patent?
It appears on the patent certificate, in the entry made in the register of patents, and in the notice of grant published in the official journal. The Patent Office's public search system also lets you look up a granted patent from the application number and see the patent number that was allotted to it. Keeping both numbers together in your own records saves time whenever a licensee or a buyer asks for proof of the right.
Does the patent number change if the patent is assigned?
No. The number identifies the patent itself, not its owner, so it stays the same through assignments, mergers and licences. What changes is the ownership entry in the register of patents, which is updated when the transfer is registered. This is why an assignment deed should always identify the patent by number: the number is stable, while names, addresses and corporate structures often are not.
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