Delhi High Court suspends India’s IP deadlines
The Delhi High Court has suspended next week’s deadline for filings at the Indian IP office, in a win for IP lawyers who said it violated an order of the country’s Supreme Court.
The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks had earlier this month instructed parties to submit IP filings, including payment of fees, by May 18. This applied to all cases with deadlines falling after March 25, the day India’s COVID-19 lockdown began.
But in a judgment issued on Monday, May 11 the High Court found that this order contravened a previous March 23 ruling of the Supreme Court, which had suspended the limitation period in all cases before the IP office until further notice.
A challenge to the May 18 deadline, set only last week, was brought by the Intellectual Property Attorneys Association (IPAA), which said it would put an unfair burden on applicants.
India’s lockdown is currently set to be lifted on May 17, while the government has mooted further restrictions beyond this date. The IPAA argued this would make it difficult for parties to access their files and ensure their submissions were complete by the beginning of next week.
High Court judge Rajiv Shakdher sided with the IPAA, ruling that “no court, tribunal or any authority can act contrary to the order of the Supreme Court dated March 23”.
The court also clarified that the Supreme Court’s suspension of deadlines applies to filings originally due on or after March 15, not March 25 as signalled in the Controller General’s order.
IP applicants have been given extra time to complete filings and pay fees due to the disruption caused by the pandemic.
The US Patent and Trademark Office has extended the deadline for many filings until June 1, where applicants prove a delay in submissions related to COVID-19 disruption.
The US Copyright Office also extended deadlines and supports for applicants until July 10, while the UK Intellectual Property Office confirmed yesterday that it would continue with its policy of ‘interrupted days’, effectively a suspension of its normal operations.
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