Rule 73 of the Patents Rules, 2003
Omitted provision
This rule in the secrecy directions chapter of the Patents Rules stands omitted and no longer prescribes any procedure.
Official legal text
Indian drafting practice deletes a provision by omitting it, not by closing the gap. Renumbering would break thousands of existing citations, so the number is retained with a note. Records made while the provision was in force still cite it, which is the main reason this page exists.
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
The current Patents Rules, 2003 show only the word Omitted at Rule 73. It sits in Chapter VII, the short chapter that supports the secrecy provisions of the Act, sections 35 to 42. Those sections let the Controller hold back an invention that appears relevant for defence purposes, require the direction to be reviewed, set out what follows while it is in force, and control the filing of patent applications outside India. The chapter that implements them now consists of Rule 71 on foreign filing permission and Rule 72 on communicating the result of a review.
The Rules have been amended many times since 2003, with substantial rounds in 2005, 2006, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2024. Each round removed procedural provisions that had become unnecessary, either because the Act had changed or because the Office had moved to electronic filing and processing. When a rule is removed the drafters usually empty the text and leave the number in place. That keeps the numbering of every other rule stable, so a citation to Rule 74 or Rule 80 in an older judgment still points to the same rule today. Rule 73 is one of those cleared numbers.
For a reader today the practical answer is short. Nothing about secrecy directions has been left without a home. The substance is in sections 35 to 42 of the Act, the procedure for asking the Controller's permission to file abroad is in Rule 71 with Form 25, and the duty to communicate the result of a periodic review is in Rule 72. If a book or a website still describes a procedure under Rule 73, check it against the current Rules before relying on it.
Why this rule matters
Readers following an old citation to Rule 73, and students tracing how the secrecy provisions of the Patents Rules have been trimmed over time.
Only when verifying a reference or comparing the 2003 Rules as first published with the Rules in force.
Nothing. The number is retained so that the numbering of the surrounding rules is not disturbed.
Time is lost hunting for text that does not exist, or an outdated procedure is followed instead of the current one.
How it works in practice
An outdated compliance checklist
The legal team of an aerospace components maker in Bengaluru inherits an internal compliance checklist written years earlier for handling inventions that might attract a secrecy direction. One line of the checklist refers to a step under Rule 73 of the Patents Rules. When a new engineer tries to follow it, she finds that Rule 73 in the current Rules carries only the word Omitted. She raises it with the company's patent agent, who explains that Chapter VII has been trimmed over successive amendments and that only Rules 71 and 72 remain, with the substance sitting in sections 35 to 42 of the Act. The checklist is rewritten around three real steps: identify inventions that may be defence relevant before any disclosure, obtain permission on Form 25 under Rule 71 before any foreign filing, and record and act on every communication received under Rule 72 about a review.
Simplified illustration only. Actual legal outcomes depend on the facts.
Key points to remember
- Rule 73 has no operative text; the Rules record it as omitted.
- It sat in the chapter supporting secrecy directions, which is now served by Rules 71 and 72.
- The substance of secrecy directions is in sections 35 to 42 of the Patents Act.
- Omitted numbers are retained so that citations to neighbouring rules stay accurate.
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
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
No judgment summaries appear here yet. Our process requires a legal review of each case note before publication, covering the citation, the court and the point actually decided. Until a note for this provision has passed that check, the section stays empty rather than carrying unverified material. How case notes are prepared.
Questions people ask about Rule 73
Why does Rule 73 of the Patents Rules say only Omitted?
Because the provision that once stood there has been removed by an amendment to the Rules, and the drafters left the number empty rather than renumbering everything after it. This is normal practice in Indian subordinate legislation and it protects older citations: a reference to Rule 74 or Rule 80 in a judgment from 2010 still points to the same rule now. It also means there is nothing to comply with at Rule 73. Read Chapter VII as consisting of Rule 71 and Rule 72, and read them with sections 35 to 42 of the Act.
Which rules apply to secrecy directions today?
Two. Rule 71 sets out how a person resident in India asks the Controller for permission to file a patent application outside India under section 39, using Form 25 with the prescribed fee, and it also fixes the timetable for the Controller's decision. Rule 72 requires the Controller to communicate to the applicant the result of the periodic reconsideration of a secrecy direction under section 36. Everything else about secrecy directions, including how they are imposed, what follows while they are in force, their revocation and the extensions that follow, comes from sections 35 to 42 of the Act itself.
Not sure which secrecy rules still apply?
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