IPDs in High Courts will ensure speedy disposal of IPR disputes

An IPD in the High Court will come as huge relief to pharmaceutical companies, which have been looking for an appellate court to resolve their grievances pertaining to Intellectual Property-related disputes. The surge in pharma patent litigation in the country is attributed to the amendment introduced to the Patents Act, aimed at bringing it in line with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Recently, a dedicated Intellectual Property Division (IPD) to exclusively deal with disputes related to intellectual property rights (IPR) was established in the Madras High Court, which became the second court after Delhi High Court to have such a facility. Effectively, IPD replaces Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) that played a pivotal role in adjudication of IPR appeals and cases. The Chennai-headquartered IPAB, which was the appellate board for IPR related disputes, was abolished in 2021 following the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021 (Ordinance), which has since become Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021.

Proposals to relocate the principal office of IPAB from Chennai had resulted in protest from various corners. Cases that will be dealt with by IPD will include all original proceedings, appellate and other proceedings related to IPR, including revocation and cancellation applications, other original proceedings, appeals and petitions from various Intellectual Property Offices (IPOs) and all other proceedings.

An IPD in the High Court will come as huge relief to pharmaceutical companies, which have been looking for an appellate court to resolve their grievances pertaining to Intellectual Property-related disputes. It is of much significance as there has been a gradual rise in patent litigation in the pharmaceutical sector. The surge in pharma patent litigation in the country is attributed to the amendment introduced to the Patents Act, aimed at bringing it in line with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

Way back in 2005, India introduced product patents for pharmaceuticals due to its commitment under TRIPS. The Indian Patent Office started issuing product patents in 2009. As a result, the innovator foreign drug companies started filing infringement suits against domestic pharmaceutical companies, which led to a rise in patent litigation in the sector. In such a backdrop, the creation of IPD augurs well for the pharmaceutical industry as it is an encouraging step when it comes to efficient disposal of patent litigations.

The scope of IPD is very broad because it is applicable to a wide range of IPRs and it will be able to deal with the matters related to its protection, disputes, data exclusivity and privacy, among others. Moreover, according to World Intellectual Property Indicators 2021, among the large middle-income countries between 2017 and 2019, applicants residing in India filed 17.8% of total patent applications in pharmaceuticals. Several pharma companies received patents for their products and innovations.

The creation of IPD in High Courts is in line with global practices in this regard. Such IP divisions or IP courts exist in the United Kingdom, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and China. On that count, IPD with comprehensive rules governing IPR matters is a good step towards ensuring efficient disposal of all cases pertaining to patents in the country.

Now, the government should encourage other High Courts, especially Bombay and Calcutta, to set up IPDs for effective and timely resolution of IP cases. Earlier, the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Union Commerce Ministry had recommended to the Union Government to take measures to set up IPDs in various High Courts, in line with the establishment of IPD in the Delhi High Court, following the dissolution of the IPAB.

The Committee, headed by V. Vijayasai Reddy, noted that the dissolution of IPAB would lead to transfer of all IP-related appeals, including the pending ones, to High Courts and Commercial Courts (in copyright matters), which could create additional burden on such courts which are already reeling under huge backlog of cases with inadequate expertise to deal with IPR matters.

Of course, an IPD with dedicated IP benches will ensure effective and speedier disposal of IPR cases. The Centre should take appropriate measures to have IPDs in all High Courts, much to the delight of players in the pharmaceutical sector.

(The author is freelance

journalist with varied experience

in different fields)