Part 5 of the Patent Infringement and Patent Administration Study Series
Quick Answer
The Controller of Patents is the statutory authority who supervises patent administration in India and exercises both administrative and quasi-judicial powers. The Controller examines applications, decides specified objections and oppositions, handles amendments and restoration, grants compulsory licences in appropriate cases, and exercises civil-court-like procedural powers under Section 77. Infringement suits, however, are decided by courts.
The patent system requires an authority to examine inventions before exclusive rights are granted and to regulate specified matters throughout the life of a patent. In India, that responsibility is centred in the office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, commonly called the Controller of Patents.
Patent Infringement and Patent Administration: Complete Study Series
- Patent Infringement in India: Meaning, Rights and Tests
- Patent Infringement Doctrines in India
- Remedies for Patent Infringement in India
- Defences in Patent Infringement Cases in India
- Controller of Patents: Powers and Functions in India
- IPAB Abolition in 2021
The statutory provisions referred to below can be read in the official India Code copy of the Patents Act, 1970.
What is the statutory position of the Controller?
Section 73 provides for the appointment of a Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks and other officers. The Controller General is the Controller of Patents for the purposes of the Act. Officers may discharge functions under the Controller's superintendence and direction, subject to the statutory scheme.
The office combines two kinds of work:
- administrative functions, such as supervising examination and maintaining patent records; and
- quasi-judicial functions, such as hearing parties, receiving evidence and deciding oppositions or compulsory-licence applications.
This combination explains why the Controller is more than a clerical authority. Decisions can determine whether a patent is granted, amended, restored, licensed or revoked under specified provisions.
What are the Controller's main powers?
| Area | Important provisions | Nature of the function |
|---|---|---|
| Examination and grant | Sections 11B, 12, 14 and 15 | Administrative and quasi-judicial |
| Pre-grant and post-grant opposition | Section 25 | Quasi-judicial |
| Amendment of application or specification | Sections 57–59 | Administrative and quasi-judicial |
| Restoration of lapsed patents | Sections 60–62 | Quasi-judicial |
| Compulsory licensing and related revocation | Sections 84–92A | Quasi-judicial and public-interest based |
| Patent register and recorded interests | Sections 67–69 | Administrative, subject to statutory limits |
| Procedural powers of a civil court | Sections 77 and 79 | Quasi-judicial |
| International applications under the PCT | Section 7 and applicable rules | Administrative |
How does the Controller deal with patent applications?
After a valid request for examination under Section 11B, an examiner investigates the application and reports on statutory requirements. The Controller considers the report and communicates objections that require a hearing under the Act.
Section 15 authorises the Controller to refuse an application or require amendment when the application, specification or related documents do not comply with the Act or Rules. Relevant questions may include novelty, inventive step, industrial applicability, sufficiency and the exclusions in Sections 3 and 4.
The Controller must apply the law to the claimed invention rather than treat the examination report as a final decision by itself. Where an adverse decision is contemplated and the Act requires an opportunity to be heard, the applicant must receive that opportunity.
The Supreme Court's decision in Novartis AG v. Union of India illustrates the significance of the patent office's initial examination of pharmaceutical claims under Section 3(d). The final judgment is available through the official Supreme Court of India PDF.
What is the Controller's role in opposition proceedings?
Section 25 creates two opposition stages:
- Pre-grant opposition: after publication but before grant, any person may make a representation on the statutory grounds.
- Post-grant opposition: a person interested may give notice within one year from publication of the grant.
The Controller examines the pleadings and evidence, follows the prescribed procedure and decides whether the patent should be maintained, amended or refused or revoked, as applicable to the stage.
Opposition is an important quality-control mechanism. It allows information about prior knowledge, obviousness, wrongful obtaining, insufficient disclosure and other statutory grounds to be tested before or soon after the monopoly takes effect.
Exam Note: Do not confuse opposition before the Controller with a revocation counterclaim in an infringement suit. They arise before different forums and under different provisions.
What powers does the Controller have over amendments?
Section 57 permits an application to amend an application, complete specification or related document before the Controller, subject to the Act. Section 59 limits the amendments that may be allowed. An amendment cannot introduce matter not in substance disclosed before amendment or make an amended claim fall wholly outside the scope of a pre-amendment claim.
The Controller therefore balances correction and clarification against the risk that an applicant or patentee may try to obtain a wider monopoly after the original filing.
How does restoration of a lapsed patent work?
A patent may cease to have effect because a renewal fee was not paid. Sections 60–62 provide a restoration procedure. The application must meet the statutory requirements, and the Controller considers matters such as whether the failure to pay was unintentional and whether there was undue delay.
If the application is accepted, it is published and may be opposed. Restoration can also be subject to protections for persons who began using the invention during the period when the patent had ceased to have effect.
What is the Controller's role in compulsory licensing?
Compulsory licensing is one of the Controller's most important public-interest functions.
Under Section 84, a person may apply after three years from the date of grant on one or more of these grounds:
- reasonable requirements of the public have not been satisfied;
- the patented invention is not available to the public at a reasonably affordable price; or
- the patented invention is not worked in the territory of India.
The Controller hears the parties and, if the statutory case is established, settles the terms of the licence in accordance with the Act. The patentee retains the patent and receives the royalty or remuneration fixed under the licence.
In the Bayer and Natco proceedings concerning sorafenib tosylate, the Controller granted India's first compulsory licence under Section 84. The case remains important because it demonstrates how affordability, public requirements and working of the invention are examined together. The later appellate history also shows that a compulsory licence is a regulated statutory authorisation, not a declaration that patents are generally unenforceable.
Sections 92 and 92A address special situations. Section 92 operates after a Central Government notification concerning national emergency, extreme urgency or public non-commercial use. Section 92A concerns compulsory licences for manufacture and export of patented pharmaceutical products to countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacity for the product, subject to its conditions.
Can the Controller revoke a patent?
The Controller does not possess a general power to revoke every patent on all Section 64 grounds. Section 85 gives a specific power to revoke for non-working after a compulsory licence has been granted and the statutory waiting period and conditions are satisfied.
Other revocation routes may lie before a High Court or arise as a counterclaim in an infringement suit. The forum and provision must therefore be identified instead of simply stating that all revocations are decided by the Controller.
What role does the Controller have in assignments and licences?
Section 68 requires an assignment, mortgage, licence or creation of another interest in a patent to be in writing and duly executed in the manner stated by the provision. Section 69 provides for registration of title or notice of an interest in the patent register.
The Controller administers the register and considers applications to record interests. This does not amount to a general jurisdiction to decide every contractual disagreement about royalties or licence performance. Section 69 itself recognises that, where rival claims cannot be resolved on the material before the Controller, the entry may await determination of rights by a competent court.
Section 91 deals with compulsory licences relating to dependent patents. It should not be described as a general “licence of right.”
Does the Controller control government use under Section 100?
Section 100 empowers the Central Government, and a person authorised in writing by it, to use an invention for government purposes. The Controller is not the source of that general authorisation. The Act contains a separate scheme for terms, notification and disputes, including Section 103.
This is different from a compulsory licence granted by the Controller under Section 84.
What procedural powers does the Controller possess?
Section 77 gives the Controller powers of a civil court for specified matters, including:
- summoning and enforcing attendance of persons;
- requiring discovery and production of documents;
- receiving evidence on affidavit;
- issuing commissions for examination of witnesses or documents;
- awarding costs; and
- reviewing the Controller's own decision on application made within the prescribed time.
These powers support fair adjudication but do not turn the Patent Office into a civil court for every dispute. The Controller must remain within the jurisdiction conferred by the Act.
Section 80 also requires an opportunity to be heard before the Controller exercises specified discretionary powers adversely to an applicant, if a hearing is requested within the prescribed time.
What is the Controller's role in PCT applications?
India participates in the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Section 7 recognises international applications designating India and the Patent Office's role as a receiving office and designated or elected office under the treaty framework and the Patent Rules.
An international application does not bypass Indian patentability requirements. The application must proceed in accordance with the Indian Act and Rules for protection in India.
How are the Controller's decisions appealed after IPAB abolition?
Before 2021, specified appeals from the Controller lay to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board under Section 117A. Following IPAB's abolition, the current statutory framework directs the listed appeals to the High Court.
Not every communication from the Patent Office is automatically appealable. The impugned decision must fall within the provisions identified by the Act, and procedural requirements must be satisfied.
The history and present appeal structure are explained in IPAB Abolition in 2021: History and Present Patent Appeal System.
Controller of Patents and courts: key distinction
| Controller of Patents | Courts |
|---|---|
| Examines applications and decides specified objections | Decide patent infringement suits |
| Hears pre-grant and post-grant oppositions | Decide revocation counterclaims in infringement suits |
| Handles amendments and restoration | Grant injunctions, damages and accounts of profits |
| Grants compulsory licences under specified provisions | Hear statutory appeals from listed Controller orders after IPAB abolition |
| Exercises Section 77 procedural powers | Exercise ordinary constitutional and civil judicial powers |
Key Takeaways
- Section 73 provides the statutory foundation for the Controller's office.
- The Controller performs administrative and quasi-judicial functions throughout the patent life cycle.
- Examination, opposition, amendment, restoration and compulsory licensing are central functions.
- Section 77 grants specified civil-court-like procedural powers, not unlimited judicial jurisdiction.
- Government use under Section 100 comes from Central Government authorisation, not a general order of the Controller.
- After IPAB abolition, statutory appeals listed in Section 117A lie to the High Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Controller of Patents a court?
No. The Controller is a statutory administrative authority with quasi-judicial powers. Section 77 grants powers of a civil court only for specified procedural matters.
Can the Controller refuse a patent application?
Yes. Section 15 permits refusal or a requirement to amend when the application or related documents do not comply with the Act or Rules.
Who decides a pre-grant opposition?
The Controller deals with a representation made under Section 25(1) in accordance with the statutory procedure.
Can the Controller grant a compulsory licence?
Yes. The Controller may grant a compulsory licence when the requirements of Section 84 or another applicable provision are satisfied.
Can the Controller award damages for patent infringement?
No. Damages and other infringement remedies under Section 108 are granted by the competent court.
Can the Controller revoke any patent under Section 64?
No. The Controller has specific revocation powers, including Section 85 after a compulsory licence. General revocation proceedings and counterclaims follow the forums specified by the Act.
Where are appeals from Controller orders filed now?
The appealable orders listed in the current Section 117A framework are taken to the High Court after IPAB's abolition.
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Last verified: 27 September 2026. Statutory references were checked against the official India Code text of the Patents Act, 1970.