Rule 42 of the Patents Rules, 2003
Omitted provision
An omitted rule from the exclusive marketing rights chapter, part of the machinery the Controller used before that scheme was abolished.
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.
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
Every special right created by statute needs someone to administer it, and the exclusive marketing rights scheme was administered by the Controller. The rules in the omitted chapter told the Office how requests were to be dealt with, so that a decision about who could sell a product in India was made on a record rather than informally. That mattered because the right, though limited, could shut competitors out of the Indian market for a specified article while it lasted.
The chapter was omitted after the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 removed the sections that created and governed the right. What remains today is the general administrative structure of the Act: the Controller examines patent applications, decides oppositions, maintains the register and exercises the powers the Act now confers. If you are researching how a particular product was handled in the early 2000s, the correct approach is to read the version of the Act and Rules that was in force at that time, because the current text will show you only a blank number.
Why this rule matters
Researchers reconstructing how the Patent Office administered the transitional scheme.
Only in historical work; the rule has no current application.
Nothing today. It was part of the administration of a right that no longer exists.
Searching the current Rules for a procedure that was deleted nearly two decades ago.
How it works in practice
Tracing a decision from 2004
A doctoral researcher at a Delhi university was writing on how India managed the shift to product patents. She wanted to know how the Patent Office had actually handled requests for exclusive marketing rights, not just what the policy documents said. Her first attempt failed: she downloaded the current Patents Rules and found the whole chapter blank. Her supervisor pointed her to the version of the Rules as originally published in 2003 and to the amendment notifications that followed. Reading them together, she could see the shape of the procedure, the point at which the Controller became involved, and the moment in 2005 when the enabling sections went. Her thesis chapter ended with a simple observation: the numbering gap in the modern Rules is the clearest evidence that the transition was completed rather than quietly abandoned, because Parliament removed the bridge only after the permanent regime was in place.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- The rule was part of how the Controller administered the abolished exclusive marketing rights scheme.
- It disappeared with the rest of the chapter after the 2005 amendment.
- Historical research needs the version of the Rules in force at the relevant time, not the current text.
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
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
Court decisions shape how this provision is applied, but a summary is useful only if it is right. Every case note on this site is read by a legal reviewer before it goes live, and none has been completed for this provision so far. This section will fill in as those reviews finish. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Rule 42
Where can I read the original text of the omitted Patents Rules chapter?
The Patents Rules, 2003 as originally notified, together with the later amendment notifications, are the place to look. The current consolidated Rules published by the Indian Patent Office will show only the word omitted against these numbers. Law libraries, the official gazette and reliable commentaries carry the historical text. For most present-day purposes the historical wording is of academic interest only, since no right can be claimed under it now.
Who administers patent procedure in India today?
The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, through the Controllers and examiners at the patent offices. They examine applications, decide pre-grant and post-grant oppositions, hear applications for compulsory licences, maintain the register of patents and exercise the discretionary powers the Act gives them, always after offering a hearing where a decision would go against a party. Appeals from most decisions now lie to the High Court, following the abolition of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board in 2021.
Need help navigating Indian Patent Office procedure?
MYCrave Consultancy handles filings, hearings and correspondence with the Controller from start to finish.
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.