Reply on appointments in patents panel: HC to Centre

The Delhi High Court today sought a response from the Centre on a plea seeking quashing of certain provisions that lay down criteria for appointment of Vice Chairman and the judicial member of the patents' panel.

A bench of justices B D Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul issued a notice to the Ministry of Commerce and sought its response within four weeks on a plea of a lawyer.

The court, however, did not issue the notice to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB).

Rakesh Chandra Aggarwal, a lawyer who has been dealing with patents matters for the last 28 years, has moved the court seeking quashing of certain provisions of the Trade Marks Act and the Patents Act on the ground that they do not allow lawyers like him to become either the Vice-chairman or the judicial member of the IPAB.

"Quash and set aside section 85, 2 (a) (b), 3 (a) (b) that lay down eligibility criteria for a vice-chairman and judicial member and section 116 (2) (a), (b) (c) of the Patents Act, 1970 as amended that lay down the eligibility criteria for technical member in constituting the IPAB," the petition said.

The plea also sought that the relevant provisions be declared "unconstitutional and ultra-vires".

Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) was constituted in 2003 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to hear appeals against the decisions of the Registrar under the Trade Marks Act and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act.