1 June 2012CopyrightPravin Anand and MS Bharath

When interim reliefs are granted by Indian IP tribunals

Seven important tribunals deal with intellectual property rights in India:

  1. Trademark office
  2. Patent office
  3. Copyright office
  4. Design office
  5. Geographical Indication office
  6. Copyright Board
  7. Intellectual Property Appellate Board.

Original rectification/revocation and appeals against the trademark office, patent office and geographical indication office lie before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). Original rectification and appeals against the registrar of copyright lie before the Copyright Board.

Appeals against the Design office lie before High Court and original rectification of a design lies before the design controller.

Powers of the trademark office

Section 127 of the Trademark Act 1999 provides the registrar with all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, for the purposes of receiving evidence, administering oaths, enforcing the attendance of witness, compelling the discovery and production of documents and issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses. It can award costs of the proceedings and, like interim relief, these can be sought against another party under an interlocutory petition under entry 58 of the act.

A person can file an interlocutory petition to stay the proceeding before the registrar on grounds such as settlement between parties, appeal or rectification or suit proceedings pending in connected matters.

Powers of the patent office

Section 77 of the Patents Act 1970 provides the controller with all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, for the purposes of summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath, requiring the discovery and production of any document, receiving evidence on affidavits, issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents, awarding costs, setting aside an order passed ex parte, and ordering cross examination and interim relief.

These can all be sought by any party against another party. It is surprising, however, that the Patent Act lacks a procedure for granting interim relief through interlocutory petitions, except when setting aside the ex parte order. For other acts, the controller can issue a notice of his own. There are no provisions for stay of proceeding before the controller under the act, however a well thought out strategy based around section 77(1)(h) may be worth trying.

Powers of the design office

Section 32 of the Design Act 2000 provides the controller with certain powers of a civil court for the purpose of receiving evidence, administering oaths, enforcing the attendance of witnesses, compelling the discovery and production of under documents, and issuing commissions for the examining of witnesses. Therefore the act is silent, with no separate provision dealing with interim reliefs and no interlocutory petition entertained.

Powers of the geographical indication office

Section 60 of the Geographical Indication of Goods Act 1999 provides the registrar with certain powers of a civil court for the purpose of receiving evidence, administering oaths, enforcing the attendance of witnesses, compelling the discovery and production of under documents, and issuing commissions for the examining of witnesses. Form 11 of the act provides for interlocutory relief and the same can be used to obtain interim reliefs.

Copyright office

Section 74 of the Copyright Act 1957 provides the registrar of copyright and the Copyright Board with the powers of a civil court in relation to summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath, requiring the discovery and production of any document, receiving evidence on affidavits, issuing commissions for the examination of documents, requisition of any public record or copy from any court or office and other matter which may be prescribed.

Section 53—which is in the nature of interim relief apart from a civil suit—authorises the registrar, or any person authorised by him, to enter any ship, dock or premises, where any copies made outside India amounting to infringement of copyright when imported may be confiscated on examination and delivered to the copyright owner.

“Therefore the IPAB technically does not have powers to grant any kind of interim relief, including stay of registration of trademarks or stay of patents.”

Appeals against a magistrate’s order arising from Section 64(2) can be stayed under Section 71, pending disposal of the appeal.

Generally, appeals arising from criminal cases in copyright infringement will lie before the Magistrate’s Court and appeals arising from orders of the registrar lie before the Copyright Board and from there to High Court, within whose jurisdiction the appellant actually and voluntarily resides, or carries on business, or personally works for gain.

In a recent case before the Madras High Court in PPL v MBPL, the appeal was admitted as maintainable from an order passed by the Copyright Board in Delhi. The court took the view that Section 72(2) can be read as covering any aggrieved person, not just the parties to the case.

Intellectual Property Appellate Board

The IPAB was constituted under the Trademark Act 1999 to deal with appeals arising from the trademark office, patent office and geographical indication office, including original rectification matters.

Apart from main relief, there is always a need for interim relief to safeguard the interest of the injured party. IPAB entertains interim reliefs by filing a miscellaneous petition; some of the known reliefs granted by IPAB are listed below:

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