Appellate board rules evidence should never be time-barred

India’s Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has recently firmly reiterated the well-settled principle that evidence should never be time-barred. In BASF Aktiengesellschaft, a German Company v Microlab Limited and Another, the IPAB intervened in a procedural issue and set aside an order of the Registrar of Trademarks that had abandoned an opposition.

The IPAB

The Intellectual Property Appellate Board was established in September 2003 under the provisions of the Trademarks Act, 1999, to hear appeals against the orders and decisions of the Registrar of Trademarks and Geographical Indication of Goods. The IPAB also has the original jurisdiction to entertain applications for the rectification or cancellation of registered trademarks. Subsequently, with appointment of technical members to the IPAB in April 2007, the jurisdiction of the Board was enlarged to hear appeals arising out of the orders or decisions of the Controller of Patents and also applications seeking the revocation or cancellation of patents.

The IPAB is headquartered in Chennai and comprises a chairman, vice-chairman, technical members for trademarks and patents, and a deputy registrar. The objective of establishing an expert body like the IPAB was to to assure the speedy handling of appeals and rectification applications.

Meenu Maheswary is an associate in the trademark team of Lex Orbis, an intellectual property practice law firm headquartered in New Delhi