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16 July 2024
The Karnataka High Court (HC) is on its way to becoming India’s next high court with its own intellectual property division (IPD).
On June 20, 2024, the chief justice of the Karnataka HC issued a notification announcing it had formed a sub-committee tasked to draft the rules for establishing the IPD. The sub-committee is composed of the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court of Karnataka in Bengaluru and Arul George Scaria, associate professor of law at the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru. Nominated to assist is Sri Sourav M., law clerk. The rules will be approved by the Karnataka HC and District Judiciary Rules Committee.
With this development, the Karnataka HC is set to follow in the footsteps of the Delhi and Madras HCs which established their dedicated IP units following the abolition of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) in April 2021. The abolition was implemented under The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalization and Conditions of Service) Ordinance promulgated by the Central Government of India. Calcutta HC is likewise finalizing its own draft rules for the creation of an IPD.
Binny Kalra, partner, Ira Law, New Delhi
According to Binny Kalra, partner at Ira Law in New Delhi, Karnataka HC’s move is welcome news for the state’s IP law practitioners. However, she admitted the establishment of IPDs in the district courts, which entertain suits under their original jurisdiction, and an IPD in the Karnataka HC to hear appeals against orders of district courts, respectively, may take some time. “For one, the notification does not stipulate a timeline for submission of the draft rules by the sub-committee. Further, the draft rules would need to be approved by the concerned oversight committees of the high court and the district courts,” said Kalra.
Nevertheless, IPDs in high courts translate to faster disposal of IP cases and other benefits. “Positive outcomes in terms of expedited disposal of IP cases due to hearing of cases by experienced IP judges in an IPD have been seen in the Delhi HC, which was the first in India to get an IPD,” revealed Kalra. “The Madras HC followed suit in April 2023 and, here too, IP lawyers have reported the transformative effects of an IPD in terms of predictability and quicker movement of IP cases and imposition of costs on parties who delay proceedings. Similar beneficial effects for litigants are expected as and when IPDs are established in the Karnataka HC and its district courts.”
- Espie Angelica A. de Leon
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