Delhi HC Seeks Suggestions from the Bar on 'The High Court of Delhi Rules Governing Patent Suits, 2020'

The Delhi High Court is the first court which has framed Rules exclusively for patent cases 

The draft rules which are first of its kind address various aspects of the patent cases. The Delhi High Court is the first court which has framed rules exclusively for patent cases. The draft rules have been prepared by a Committee constituted for this purpose. The committee comprised of eminent names like Chief Justice DN Patel, Justices Prathiba M Singh, Navin Chawla, Sanjeev Narula and patent attorney Hari Subramaniam. The Rules will form a part of Section 158 of the Patents Act, 1970. 

The members of the bar can send their comments to the office of the Registrar at jrrules.dhc@gov.in

The Court stated that if there are any comments or suggestions to the proposed “ Rules Governing Patent Suits, 2020”, the members of the bar can send their comments to the office of the Registrar General at jrrules.dhc@gov.in before 6th of November 2020

Draft Rules deal with technical and procedural aspects at various stages of a patent suit

The draft rules deal with both technical and procedural aspects that are required to be compiled with at various stages of a patent suit. The rules deal with infringement claims, construction briefs, invalidity briefs, infringement briefs, creation of a panel of scientific advisors, compulsory mediation among several others. 

Unique Features of the Rules  

• The rules have a provision for holding three case management hearings. 

• The rules allow assistance from independent technical experts. 

• The rules allow modern methods of the recording of evidence such as hot-tubbing. 

• The rules deal with having a Confidentiality Club to share commercially sensitive documentary evidence. 

• The rules also permit video-recording of evidence. 

These rules will govern the procedure for adjudication of all patent suits and they also supersede over the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018, in case of any inconsistency. 

 The notice and the draft rules may be accessed here.