Patents at the Intellectual Property Appellate Board: The First Ten Years

Abstract

In the first decade of operation, the patent side of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) received a total of 769 cases which included appeals from the Patent Office and revocation petitions filed directly. In our empirical study of all the patent cases before the IPAB, we found that only 207 cases were decided by the IPAB, which includes both appeals and revocation applications. Over 70% of the patent cases filed are either pending in some stage or are yet to be taken up for admission. With an average disposal rate of about 20 patent cases a year, the wisdom of divesting the powers of the High Courts and constituting the patent bench at the IPAB needs to be reconsidered.