India's Supreme Court will examine whether patent holders deserve compensation for government delays that erode their enforceable protection, MLex reported on October 22, weighing inventors' rights against competition and Parliament's authority to extend patent terms.
Source: MLex
Under Section 53 of the Patents Act, 1970, a patent lasts 20 years from the date of filing the application, not from the date of grant. India does not currently have a Patent Term Adjustment system of the kind used in the United States, under which certain patent-office delays can extend the term.
The case, Gunjan Sinha @ Kanishk Sinha and another versus the Union of India, arises from a patent filed in 2005 and granted in December 2012. Under Section 53 it would ordinarily expire in May 2025. The petitioner, who appeared in person, says a delay of about seven years in the grant process ran against the patent's term and seeks compensation for the period lost, including by extending the term, Live Law reported.
Source: Live Law
The Calcutta High Court had declined to accept the argument that the American adjustment model should be introduced through judicial intervention. It held that Section 53 and Section 11A(7) operate in different fields — Section 11A(7) covers rights after publication and before grant, while Section 53 fixes the duration — and that a new mechanism to compensate for processing delays would essentially need legislation.
A bench of Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe has issued notice in the special leave petition and requested advocate Kruttika Vijay to assist the Court as amicus curiae. The Court has expressed no view on the petitioner's argument so far, and the matter is listed next on October 26, 2026.
If the Court reads in any adjustment for grant delays, thousands of patents decided slowly by the Patent Office could gain extra protection. If it agrees with the High Court, any change will have to come from Parliament.