The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : “Strike a balance while handling IPR cases”

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Monday, Jul 28, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

“Strike a balance while handling IPR cases”

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, A.K. Ganguly, has called for striking a balance in the conflict of interests between social justice and commercial advancements while adjudicating cases relating to protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

He was presiding over the two-day Judges’ Round Table on “Intellectual Property Rights Adjudication” organised by the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy, Chennai, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here on Saturday.

Mr. Ganguly said there was a need for innovation, but innovation must be tempered with jurisprudence.

“We have to strike a balance, and to achieve this objective, both the judiciary and the government have a pivotal role to play. And this is a challenge before the judiciary," he said.

Inaugurating the round table, Supreme Court judge Justice Altamas Kabir underscored the importance of educating the judiciary on the various aspects of IPR adjudication, since all sub-courts and High Courts handled cases relating to violation of IPR. More than 75 per cent of the IPR disputes were handled by the High Court of Delhi, and partly by the High Courts of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta.

Justice P.D. Dinakaran, judge of the Madras High Court and chairman of the Board of Governors of the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy, said the judiciary was faced with the challenge of striking a balance between monopoly rights guaranteed under a patent and the social needs and commercial advancements. M. Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman of the FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council, said IPR protection was vital to encouraging research and innovation.

G.M. Akbar Ali, Director, Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy, said the round table would cover vital aspects of the international character of IPR.

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