INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Anu Paarcha, Aniruddh Bhatia, Mishthi Dubey and N Parvati, Saikrishna & Associates
found to be invalid while others remain valid – ie, relief may be granted qua valid claims even if certain other claims have been found to be invalid. 4.3 Amendments in Revocation/ Cancellation Proceedings Amendments are possible in revocation or can- cellation proceedings. As per Section 58 of the Act, during proceedings for the revocation of a patent, the High Court may allow the patentee to amend their complete specification, provided it is deemed appropriate. This amendment may also be subject to costs. 4.4 Revocation/Cancellation and Infringement Revocation and infringement cases are gener- ally not heard together as they would be two different proceedings. However, in a suit for infringement, where a counterclaim seeking to invalidate the patents is filed, both proceedings would typically be heard together. Nevertheless, if a revocation petition is filed independently, and an infringement suit is also filed independently, it is theoretically possible that they would be adjudicated separately – though, practically, the court is likely to combine these and hear them together. 5. Trial and Settlement 5.1 Special Procedural Provisions for Intellectual Property Rights The procedure for IP rights proceedings are largely governed by specialised statutes viz the Trade Marks Act, 1996, the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Patents Act, 1970 (along with the CPC). Additionally, courts may also issue rules for these suits which would be valid in the juris- diction of that specific court, such as the Patent
Suit Rules and the Delhi High Court Intellectual Property Rights Division Rules 2022, issued by the Delhi High Court for all matters filed before its IP division. The timeline for the proceedings would vary depending on the urgency of the suit and the factual matrix. Typically, interim relief would be adjudicated on within three to six months of ini- tiation of the suit. In rare cases, where extremely urgent relief is applied for, courts may grant ex parte or ad interim relief on the first day of the suit itself. However, this would depend on the factual matrix. For final relief in the suit, including trial, the judg- ment may take up to 12 months or more, sub- ject to other timelines being complied with. The timeline in the suit is statutorily mandated in the following manner. • From receipt of summons in the suit, the defendant has 30 days (extendable to a maxi- mum of 120 days) to file its written statement (statement of defence). • Thereafter, the plaintiff is provided 30 days (extendable to 45 days) to file its replication of the written statement. • Pursuant to filing of the replication, proce- dural hearings for the trial begin (marking of exhibits, admission/denial documents, etc). Thereafter, case management hearings are held where issues are framed and a schedule for trial is fixed. While the statutory timeline for commercial suits (including IP suits) is six months, this may be extended if sufficient reasons have been provided for the delay. • The plaintiff then leads evidence, by way of affidavit, pursuant to which its witnesses are cross-examined. Similarly, the defendant also leads evidence, by way of affidavit, pursuant to which its witnesses are cross-examined.
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