Delhi High Court has suspended the public notices issued by the Indian patent office with regard to extension of due dates in view of the lockdown in India and directed the Indian Patent Office (IPO) to act according to the Supreme Court’s direction.

In the matter of SUO MOTU WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) No(s).3/2020, titled IN RE: COGNIZANCE FOR EXTENSION OF LIMITATION, the Supreme Court ordered that period of limitation in all proceedings, irrespective of the limitation prescribed under the general law or Special Laws whether condonable or not shall stand extended w.e.f. 15th  March 2020 till further order/s being passed by the Court.

The Indian Patent Office in view of lockdown-1 IN India issued a notification on 25th March 2020. According to the 25 March 2020 notification, all deadlines and timelines prescribed under the Intellectual Property Acts and Rules that fall due during the period of lockdown will automatically get extended to the date on which the offices re-open i.e 15t h April, 2020 The Indian Patent Office, on 15 April, 2020 and 4^th May 2020 issued further notification in view lockdown-2 and 3 According to the said notifications the relaxation notified for extension of deadlines be extended accordingly up to 3^rd May 2020 and 17^th May 2020 respectively.

IPAA (INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION) filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court challenging the public notices issued by the IPO, arguing the same to be contrary to the order dated 23.03.2020, passed by the Supreme Court.

The petitioner submitted that :-

• the protection against triggering of the period of limitation both under general and special laws, whether condonable or not, is to kick in from 15.03.2020 and not from 25.03.2020
• to fix a cut-off date i.e. 18.05.2020 for completion of various acts/proceedings, filings, payment of fees, etc. in the matters of any IP applications, not only flies in face of the Supreme Court order dated 23.03.2020, but also imposes onerous burden on the applicants as well as their advocates.
• it would be difficult for the litigants and the advocates to access their files and ensure that the filings as per prescribed procedure are made on 18.05.2020,

The court held that:-

• First, no Court, Tribunal or any authority can act contrary to the order of the Supreme Court dated 23.03.2020. This order has been passed by the Supreme Court in exercise of its powers under Article 141 and Article 142 of the Constitution.
• Second, under Article 144 of the Constitution, all authorities whether civil or judicial, located in the territory of India are required to act in aid of the orders passed by the Supreme Court.

The court therefore held that the petitioner is right that the protection against limitation being triggered should commence from 15.03.2020 and not 25.03.2020, as is indicated in the public notice dated 04.05.2020 issued by the respondents.

As regards the submission that a very narrow window, in terms of timeframe, has been given for filings, the court held that there is merit in the same as well and therefore the court suspended the operation of the public notice dated 04.05.2020 and the patent office is directed to act in accordance with the order of the Supreme Court dated 23.03.2020.