Rule 4

Appropriate office

1 - The appropriate office of the patent office shall-

1(i) - for all the proceedings under the Act, be the head office of the patent office or the branch office, as the case may be, within whose territorial limits--

1(i)(a) - the applicant or first mentioned applicant in case of joint applicants for a patent, normally resides or has his domicile or has a place of business or the place from where the invention actually originated; or

1(i)(b) - the applicant for a patent or party in a proceeding if he has no place of business or domicile in India, the address for service in India given by such applicant or party is situated; and

2 - The appropriate office once decided in respect of any proceedings under the Act shall not ordinarily be changed.

3 - Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (2), the Controller may transfer an application for patent so filed, to head office or, as the case may be, branch office of the Patent Office.

4 - Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), further application referred to in section 16 of the Act, shall be filed at the appropriate office of the first mentioned application only.

5 - All further applications referred to section 16 of the Act filed in an office other than the appropriate office of the first mentioned application, before the commencement of the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2013, shall.be transferred to the appropriate office of the first mentioned application.