Intellectual Property Rights - Law and Practice · Patent Databases and Patent Information System

Controller's Power to Call for Information and Duty to Supply It

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Under Section 146, the Controller can by written notice require a patentee or licensee to report, within two months, how far the patent has been commercially worked in India. Every patentee and licensee must also file periodic working statements. Section 122 punishes refusal, failure or false information.

Understand Controller's Power to Call for Information and Duty to Supply It

A patent gives a monopoly. The law expects the invention to be actually used in India, not just held. Section 146 gives the Controller the tool to check this. It lets the Controller ask what the patentee and licensees have done with the invention.

There are two separate duties. The first is on-demand: the Controller may, at any time during the continuance of the patent, serve a written notice on a patentee or a licensee (exclusive or otherwise). The notice asks for information or periodical statements on the extent to which the patented invention has been commercially worked in India. The reply is due within two months from the date of the notice, or within such further time as the Controller allows.

The second is standing: without prejudice to the first, every patentee and every licensee must furnish statements on the extent of working on a commercial scale in India. The manner, form and intervals are prescribed by the rules. The interval cannot be less than six months. No notice is needed for this duty. In practice this is the working statement you may know as Form 27. The Rules prescribe the form, so do not quote its timing from the Act.

Section 146(3) lets the Controller publish the information received under either sub-section, in the prescribed manner. This is why working statements are a useful source in patent information systems.

Section 122 is the enforcement side. A person who refuses or fails to furnish information or a statement required by or under Section 146 is punishable with a fine up to ten lakh rupees. A person who furnishes information that is false, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be false, or does not believe to be true, faces imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both.

Key rules to remember

Section 146(1): notice-based demand: Written notice by Controller → reply within 2 months (or further time allowed); Applies at any time during the continuance of the patent, to a patentee or a licensee, exclusive or otherwise.
Section 146(2): standing duty: Every patentee and licensee → statements on commercial working in India → at prescribed intervals, not less than six months apart; Manner and form are prescribed by rules. The Act sets only the floor on the interval.
Section 146(3): publication: Controller may publish information received under 146(1) or 146(2); Publication is in the prescribed manner. It is a power, not a duty.
Section 122(1): fine: Refusal or failure to furnish information under s.146 → fine up to ₹10 lakh; Also covers failure to give the Central Government information required under section 100(5).
Section 122(2): false information: False information, known or believed false → imprisonment up to 6 months, or fine, or both; The person must know or have reason to believe it is false, or not believe it to be true.

How to solve Controller's Power to Call for Information and Duty to Supply It questions

Use this order for any problem or theory question on Sections 146 and 122. Provision, facts, conclusion.

1Identify who is involved: a patentee, an exclusive licensee or a non-exclusive licensee. Section 146 covers all of them.
2Decide which duty applies: a Controller's written notice under 146(1), or the standing periodic duty under 146(2).
3State the subject matter: the extent of commercial working of the patented invention in India.
4Check the time: two months from the date of notice, or extended time allowed by the Controller; for 146(2), intervals are as prescribed and not less than six months.
5Test the conduct: did the person refuse, fail, or give false information? Separate these.
6Apply Section 122: failure or refusal gives a fine up to ₹10 lakh; knowingly false information gives imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both.
7Conclude in one line, and add a practical point such as keeping working records and filing on time.

Quickest way: Notice, duty, penalty in three lines

When to use it: When you have little time and the question asks for the power, the duty or the penalty in short.

Write: Controller may call by notice for working information; reply in 2 months or extended time (s.146(1)).
Write: every patentee and licensee must file periodic working statements, at intervals of not less than six months as prescribed (s.146(2)); Controller may publish (s.146(3)).
Write: refusal or failure means fine up to ₹10 lakh; false information means up to 6 months, or fine, or both (s.122).

Common mistakes in Controller's Power to Call for Information and Duty to Supply It

Saying only the patentee must supply information.
Students focus on the patent owner and forget licensees.
Fix: Write 'patentee or licensee, exclusive or otherwise' every time.
Treating the two-month limit as fixed.
The deadline is remembered without its extension clause.
Fix: Add 'or such further time as the Controller may allow'.
Saying the standing duty arises only after a notice.
Sub-sections (1) and (2) are blended into one.
Fix: Keep them apart: 146(1) needs a notice; 146(2) applies to every patentee and licensee at prescribed intervals.
Quoting an old fine of ₹20,000 or a prison term for plain non-supply.
Older notes carry the pre-2005 figure, and students mix up the two limbs of Section 122.
Fix: Failure or refusal: fine up to ₹10 lakh. Imprisonment up to six months applies only to false information.
Stating that the Controller must publish the information received.
The word 'may' in 146(3) is overlooked.
Fix: Write 'may publish in the prescribed manner'.

Worked examples

Example 1

Medira Pharma Ltd holds an Indian patent and has given an exclusive licence to Sahyadri Labs Pvt Ltd. On 1 March the Controller sent both a written notice asking for details of commercial working of the invention in India. Sahyadri Labs did not reply, saying that only the patentee must answer. Advise.

Show the solution

Provision: Section 146(1) lets the Controller, by written notice, require a patentee or a licensee, exclusive or otherwise, to furnish information on commercial working in India.
Analysis: Sahyadri Labs is an exclusive licensee, so it is covered. The argument that only the patentee must answer has no basis in the text.
Time: the reply was due within two months from the date of the notice, or any further time the Controller allowed. Nothing suggests an extension was sought.
Consequence: failure to furnish information required under Section 146 attracts Section 122(1), a fine up to ₹10 lakh.
Practical point: Sahyadri Labs should reply at once, or request more time before the deadline.

Answer: Sahyadri Labs must furnish the information. Its failure to reply within two months, or any extended time, makes it liable to a fine up to ₹10 lakh under Section 122(1).

Example 2

Kaveri Textiles Ltd, a patentee, filed a working statement in reply to a Controller's notice. It stated that the invention was worked on a commercial scale, though its officers knew the invention had not been worked at all. What liability arises?

Show the solution

Provision: Section 122(2) applies where a person required to furnish information under Section 122(1) furnishes a statement that is false.
Test: the falsity must be something the person knows, has reason to believe false, or does not believe to be true. Here the officers knew it was untrue.
Distinguish: this is not mere failure to supply, which gets a fine up to ₹10 lakh. It is giving false information.
Penalty: imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both.
Practical point: records of actual working should be checked before every filing.

Answer: Section 122(2) applies. The person responsible is punishable with imprisonment up to six months, or with fine, or with both.

Exam tips

Write both sub-sections of Section 146 separately, then link Section 122. Examiners reward structure.
Quote the numbers exactly: two months, six months, ₹10 lakh.
Keep the two penalties apart: fine for failure or refusal, imprisonment for false information.
In case-based questions, name the person's status (patentee or licensee) before applying the rule.
Mention that the Rules prescribe the form and manner; do not guess rule numbers or dates.

Practice questions from Patent Databases and Patent Information System

Controller's Power to Call for Information and Duty to Supply It: frequently asked questions

What does Section 146 of the Patents Act provide?

It lets the Controller call for information on the commercial working of a patented invention in India from a patentee or licensee. It also makes every patentee and licensee file periodic working statements. The Controller may publish what is received.

What is the penalty under Section 122 for not supplying information?

Refusal or failure to furnish information or a statement required under Section 146 is punishable with a fine up to ten lakh rupees. False information that the person knows or believes to be false can attract imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both.

Is Form 27 mentioned in Section 146?

No. The Act only requires working statements in the manner and form prescribed. The prescribed form is what students know as the working statement. Cite Section 146(2) for the duty and say the form is set by the Rules.

Do licensees also have to file working statements?

Yes. Section 146 applies to every patentee and every licensee, whether exclusive or otherwise. A licensee can also receive a Controller's notice.