Regulating the Misuse of Patent Rights in India: A Doctrinal Analysis of Groundless Threats and Restrictive Licensing under the Patents Act, 1970

The Patents Act, 1970 grants the patentee the exclusive right to make use of an invention and also contains certain provisions to stop the right from being used for purposes beyond what patent law actually protects. This paper examines the practical application of sections 106 and 140. Section 106 provides relief to a person threatened with infringement proceedings without justification, through a declaration, an injunction and damages. Section 140 renders void certain restrictive conditions that a patentee may impose in contracts of sale, lease or licence. The study is based on doctrinal methodology, examining the statutory language, Indian case law on these provisions and legal commentaries. The analysis suggests that courts have not yet developed a settled interpretative test for either section, which leaves their scope and application uncertain. The Act does not say when a communication becomes a “threat” or when a threat becomes “groundless”, and the courts have so far answered those questions case by case. Section 140 has attracted even less judicial attention, so its categories, in particular the newer ones concerning grant-back, validity challenges and coercive package licensing, remain largely unexplained. The paper argues that this gap between legislative intent and judicial interpretation, and the lack of clarity in the legal words used, reduce the effectiveness of these provisions in regulating misuse of patent rights. It concludes that clearer judicial standards and more consistent application are necessary to ensure that patent rights are exercised within reasonable and legally defined limits.