Rights and Obligations of a Patentee

Innovation is essential for the growth and success of any business, organization, or nation. Inventions that are novel and useful for industrial application form the bedrock of progress across societies. The inventors that invest time, money, and effort into inventing such novel procedures and products deserve to gain the fruits of their labor.

Patents come as a welcome solution for many such inventors or organizations and individuals that hire such inventors. They further the commercial exploitation of their inventions, along with a range of other benefits. 

However, a patent holder or a patentee should be well-versed in the rights that a patent grants them and be aware of the obligations they are required to fulfill. 

• Right of Exploitation: A patentee holds an exclusive right to overexploiting the patented product or process several manners of his choice. A patentee can choose to sell or distribute their patent through goods or even a patented process in the market. They also have an exclusive right of use; that is, they cannot exercise the use of the patent without authorization.


• Licensing Rights: A registered patent enables a patentee to grant other persons or organizations exclusive or non-exclusive rights over their patents. These rights are transferred by means of licensing or assignment. Further, the patentee can also authorize sub-licensing to the license holders. These methods can prove to be commercially beneficial as such transfer of patent rights, to the extent that the patentee chooses, is done in exchange for a consideration, usually through a licensing or assignment agreement.


• Right to initiate legal proceedings: Patentees acquire an essential right to initiate legal proceedings in the event of unauthorized use of the patented product or process by a third party. Thus, registered patents make it convenient for the legitimate patent holder to claim damages and injunctions in case of patent infringement.


• Right of surrender: A patentee can at any point choose to surrender the rights as well as the obligations that they have over their patent by following a legal procedure. If they so choose to exercise this right, they are required to send notices to all the named parties who have been declared patent holders concerning the patent in question and get their consent. Like a registered patent, the notification of the application for surrender is also publicized through the Official gazette by the Registry.


• The obligation of compulsory licenses: During certain events, if the patentee, in the eyes of the Government, is not exercising the use of the patent fairly and reasonably, then the Government has the right to authorize the exploitation of the patent by other parties in light of public interest.


• Revoked patents: Patentees are obligated to use their patents satisfactorily, as non-use despite their existing demand in the market can cause a patent to be revoked.


• Prohibition/ mandated use by Government: The Government has the power to prohibit or limit the use of certain patents to certain manners. The Government also enjoys the privilege of using registered patents in exchange for fair compensation. The consent of the patentee is not mandatory in such circumstances.

These remain some of the main considerations for a patentee, which they should take the time to be familiar with while holding the rights over a patent or getting one registered.