CHENNAI:The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has started hearing trademarks cases from January 18, after a gap of 20 months, the institution said in a press note on Monday.Justice Manmohan Singh assumed office as chairman of IPAB on January 1 and the Bench of the IPAB has resumed hearing cases pending since May 2016.
The Bench, consisting of chairman Justice Manmohan Singh and technical member (Trade Marks), Sanjeev K Chaswal, heard about 48 cases on the first day of hearing in New Delhi. The Board will be hearing the matters in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad in the upcoming months. A hearing schedule upto May 2018 is available on www.ipabindia.org. The IPAB was constituted to hear appeals against the decisions of the Registrar under Trade Marks Act, 1999, Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 besides Patent Act, 1970. The Copyright Board has been merged with IPAB as per the Finance Bill 2017.