IP Intelligence › What Changed › Foreign filing licence breaches are no longer criminal - in
What changed · 1 June 2026
Foreign filing licence breaches are no longer criminal - in ordinary cases
What changed
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026, whose patent provisions took effect on 1 June 2026, renamed Chapter XX from Penalties to Punishments, omitted section 119, and added a proviso to section 118 removing criminal punishment for section 39 breaches where the Central Government forms the opinion that the invention was not relevant to defence or atomic energy.
Why it matters
Section 39 requires a person resident in India to obtain written permission before applying for a patent outside India, unless an application for the same invention was filed in India at least six weeks earlier. Breach used to carry imprisonment exposure even for entirely ordinary subject matter. That has now gone for non-defence, non-atomic inventions.
Who should care
Indian-resident inventors working with foreign co-inventors or foreign-incorporated employers - which is where this provision bites most often.
What you should do
Nothing changes operationally. Keep the foreign filing check in your invention disclosure process, keyed to inventor residence. Section 40 is untouched: the Indian patent can still be refused or revoked for a section 39 contravention, and that was always the more likely consequence.
This narrows criminal exposure only. Do not read it as making foreign-first filing safe.
Sources & further reading
Related
Filing abroad first, without permission
A person resident in India may not apply outside India for a patent without written permission from the Controller, unless an application for the same invention was …
Foreign filing permission
A person resident in India may not apply outside India for a patent for an invention without written permission from the Controller, unless an application for the sa…
Before filing outside India
The twelve-month priority window is effectively immovable, and section 39 catches Indian residents in a way most people never hear about.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.