Patents Act1970
Patent law in India; substantially amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act 2005 to comply with TRIPS.
Practice area · Indian legal practice
Intellectual Property
Patents, Trademarks, Copyright, Designs: registration, infringement, opposition.
IP practice covers registration, opposition, infringement litigation, and rectification across patents, trademarks, copyright, and designs. The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) was abolished in 2021, IPAB jurisdiction now vests in the Commercial Courts and High Courts. Forums include the Patent Office, Trade Marks Registry, Copyright Board, and the courts.
Key statutes
Trade Marks Act1999
Replaced Trade and Merchandise Marks Act 1958.
Copyright Act1957
Statutory copyright regime.
Designs Act2000
Industrial design protection.
Geographical Indications of Goods Act1999
GI protection.
Tribunals Reforms Act2021
Abolished IPAB; transferred jurisdiction to Commercial Courts and High Courts.
Primary forums
- Patent Office (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata)
- Trade Marks Registry (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad)
- Copyright Office
- Commercial Courts (under the Commercial Courts Act 2015), IP infringement suits over the pecuniary threshold
- High Court: original side IP suits in Bombay/Calcutta/Madras/Delhi; appellate jurisdiction
- Supreme Court of India
Common matters
- Patent applications, oppositions (pre-grant and post-grant), revocations
- Trademark applications and oppositions; infringement and passing-off suits
- Copyright infringement suits and Anton Piller orders
- Design infringement and rectification
- GI registration and infringement
- IP licensing disputes and franchise litigation
Limitation periods
Patents Act: pre-grant oppositions before grant; post-grant within 1 year of grant. Trade Marks Act Section 47, non-use cancellation petitions after 5 years. Copyright infringement: Limitation Act 1963 Article 113 (3 years from infringement). Commercial-suit limitation generally 3 years.
CourtNetra workflow for intellectual property
IP matters in CourtNetra track filing-office reference numbers, oppositions, and renewal dates. Trademark renewal-date alerts surface 90 / 60 / 30 days before due. NyayLens AI surfaces IP precedent on infringement tests, deceptive-similarity standards, and post-IPAB jurisdictional jurisprudence.
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