Patent Plea
HC pulls up patent dept for not ruling on Novartis' plea for 15 years
This story was originally published at 12:56 IST on 17 March 2026
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026
NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks for not deciding on Novartis AG's patent application for 15 years, and said this shows a "sorry state of affairs" at the department. Justice Jyoti Singh said it was noting with great pain that this state of affairs must not continue. The high court asked the controller general to form a standard operating procedure for disposal of patent application within a given timeline.
The high court directed the controller general to decide Novartis' application seeking registration of a patent on a drug for breast cancer treatment and the opposition filed by various parties in four months. It said various opposition applications filed against a patent did not allow the patent office to prolong the hearings and not decide on the patent application. Timely disposal must be given priority, the court said.
A patent application by Novartis in 2011 was still pending, noted the court. Even if Novartis succeeded in its patent application, the company will have only three years left to enjoy the fruits of its hardwork, the court said, as the patent is to expire in 2029. The court warned the controller general if it gets a similar case of delay the next time, it will pass strictures against the office.
The high court was hearing a writ petition by Novartis seeking a direction to the controller general to dispose of its patent application relating to treatment of breast cancer. The petitioner said it had filed the application in 2011, and the first examination report was issued by the office in 2017 and a pre grant opposition notice issued the next year. However, even after 15 years, the controller general had not yet decided on its patent applications, depicting an unfortunate state of affairs, the petitioner said. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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