The four-member Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) will start hearing cases by early next year. The board, which will hear intellectual property (IP) related cases, is expected to bring uniformity in judgments relating to this area and contribute to faster clearance of cases.
While the IPAB will hear cases relating to patents, trademarks and geographical indications only initially, its purview will be extended progressively, said commerce ministry officials.
"While the Patents (Amendment) Bill, to be placed in Parliament in the Winter Session, has clauses regarding the IPAB's jurisdiction over patent related cases, the designs bill, which was cleared earlier, will be amended to include design related cases under the IPAB's jurisdiction," they added.
The information technology ministry has also approached the ministry of commerce and industry to consider the possibility of including cases governed by the semiconductor bill in the IPAB's jurisdiction.
The IPAB has to be set up under Section 83 of the Trademark Act. Setting up of the board has been delayed pending the enforcement of the legislation. While Parliament had cleared the Act in 1999, the rules have only recently been vetted by the law ministry and will be notified shortly. The IPAB will be set up immediately after this, officials said.
After the board is in place, it will take about one month to shift IP related cases from the High Courts to the IPAB. "However, petitioners will be free to approach the High Courts also," officials said.
In order to ensure fast clearance of cases in the IPAB, the government is considering making it mandatory for lawyers to present cases in concise format. "Most of the time, the delays are on account of lengthy arguments presented by lawyers, and we aim to cut down on this excess time," officials said.
The chairman and vice-chairman of the IPAB have to be appointed in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the law ministry.
As per the Trademark Act, the chairman has to be someone qualified to be a High Court Judge and the vice chairman also has to have a legal background. Besides these, the board will consist of two technical members with at least 10 years experience practicing IP law at the High Court level.
The IPAB will be split into two separate units - one consisting of the chairman and a technical member and the other one consisting of the vice-chairman and a technical member. Both the units will hear cases separately.
Content Guide
