Under Section 109(1) of the Patents Act, 1970, the holder of an exclusive licence has:

Section 109(1) gives an exclusive licensee "the like right as the patentee to institute a suit in respect of any infringement of the patent committed after the date of the licence". He need not first call on the patentee, as a compulsory licensee must under section 110, and he cannot sue for infringements committed before his licence began.