Residents not to apply for patents outside India without prior permission
Section 39 of the Patents Act, 1970 deals with residents not to apply for patents outside India without prior permission. No person resident in India shall, except under the authority of a written permit sought in the manner prescribed and granted by or on behalf of the Controller, make or cause to be made any application outside India for the grant of a patent for an invention unless-- (a) an application for a patent The Act came into force on 01 Apr 1978.
1[39. Residents not to apply for patents outside India without prior permission.--(1) No person resident in India shall, except under the authority of a written permit sought in the manner prescribed and granted by or on behalf of the Controller, make or cause to be made any application outside India for the grant of a patent for an invention unless--
(a) an application for a patent for the same invention has been made in India, not less than six weeks before the application outside India; and
(b) either no direction has been given under sub-section (1) of section 35 in relation to the application in India, or all such directions have been revoked.
(2) The Controller shall dispose of every such application within such period as may be prescribed:
Provided that if the invention is relevant for defence purpose or atomic energy, the Controller shall not grant permit without the prior consent of the Central Government.
(3) This section shall not apply in relation to an invention for which an application for protection has first been filed in a country outside India by a person resident outside India.]
Section 39, The Patents Act, 1970 (Act 39 of 1970).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Selfdot Technologies (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. v. Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
s.39 written-permit rule for residents filing abroad applies to patents of addition / CIP after Indian parent first-filing, but bona fide belief that parent filing satisfied the permit duty is credible where parent was first filed in India and PoA is ancillary; ambiguity in applying s.39 to PoA does not justify harsh refusal without nuanced construction.
On this section: True
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… at paragraph 9, the Supreme Court emphasised that procedure is the handmaid of justice and that procedural and technical hurdles should not be allowed to come in the way of the Court doing substantial justice. > 4. In response to these contentions, learned counsel for the respondent submitted that the mandate of Section 39 of the Patents Act is clear and that it does not admit of any exception for a patent of addition. He also pointed out that the priority date as regards the application for the patent of addition is the date specified in the application filed before the US Patent Office. Learned counsel referred to the proviso to …
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… No doubt in the said case the Apex Court has referred to the standard text books, as the said case concerned answers to questions in Chemistry, Zoology and Botany and in so far as the Chemistry question was concerned, involved the correct meaning of a word. However, in the instant case the provisions of Section 39 of the Patents Act have a bearing in so far as the correct answer to Question No.27 is concerned. Hence the facts of the present case are distinguishable from the facts in the Kanpur University's case. In our view, therefore, the judgment of the Apex Court in Kanpur Unviersity's case (supra) would not aid the …
Made under this section, and citing it
1 instrument names this provision in its title or its text without being made under it.
Questions about Section 39
What have the courts held on Section 39 of the Patents Act?
Selfdot Technologies (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. v. Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (28 Nov 2023) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: True.
How do I find court cases under Section 39 of the Patents Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Patents Act 39, section 39 Patents Act, section 39 of the Patents Act. People searching for it also type patents act 1970 39 of 1970. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Selfdot Technologies (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. v. Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (28 Nov 2023).
What should I read with Section 39 of the Patents Act, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 35 (Secrecy directions relating to inventions relevant for defence purposes), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 4 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. One instrument names it without being made under it, most recently The Patents (Amendment) rules, 2006 (2006).
When did Section 39 of the Patents Act come into force?
Section 39 of the Patents Act, cited as Patents Act 39, came into force on 01 Apr 1978, having been enacted on 19 Sep 1970. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.