New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana on Saturday rued the lack of basic minimum standards of judicial infrastructure in the country and stressed the need of not only filling the existing vacancies but also raising the number of judges in high courts to efficiently deal with intellectual property litigations.
The CJI was speaking as the chief guest at the 'National Seminar on Adjudication of IPR Disputes in India' here organised by the Delhi High Court and attended by many judges from across the country and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who said India is at a stage where growth and focus on development has got to be strengthened from every side and intellectual property rights (IPR) play a very important role in it.
"Judicial infrastructure needs to be improved. Unfortunately, we are not even meeting the basic minimum standards in this area. It has been my endeavour since assuming the office of Chief Justice of India, to put in place an institutional mechanism to coordinate and oversee the improvement of judicial infrastructure.
"Mere allocation of funds is not enough. The challenge is to put the available resources to optimum use. I have been pursuing the government for setting up of statutory authorities, both at the Centre and at the states. I am hoping for a positive response soon," Justice Ramana said. He reiterated his message to offshore investors that the Indian judicial system is investor friendly and absolutely independent to impart justice to all.
"When I visited Japan in 2016 to attend a conference on IPR, I was repeatedly asked by entrepreneurs as to how investor friendly the Indian judicial system is. In fact, whenever I travel abroad, from a cross section of hosts, I keep getting similar queries. My answer has always remained the same; that the Indian judiciary is absolutely independent and it always treats all the parties equally and equitably," he said.
The union minister also stated that the central government encouraged start-ups while protecting their IPR as the boost would not have been possible with only giving up restrictions .
Sitharaman said 28,000 patents were registered last year as opposed to 4,000 in 2013-2014, and that the last year also witnessed 2.5 lakh trademark and over 16,000 copyright registrations, which will have a very strong ripple effect when scaled up as they generate its own ecosystem and revenues.
Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel, who was delivering the welcome speech, said the disputes of IPR may look private in nature but they also involve an element of public interest, and protection of intellectual property does not only include business opportunities but also the sense of mental satisfaction of the creator.
"IPR is not a simple subject, this field is undoubtedly a complex one with no geographical boundaries," he said.
He said Delhi, being the capital of the country, has always been a hub of IPR matters, and data shows that since 2000, approximately 11,000 IPR cases were filed and around 90 per cent of those have been disposed of till date.
Delhi High Court judge Prathiba M Singh, while giving the opening remarks on "Vision of the IP Division", said a recent trend shows an increase in trademark and copyright cases and that India is the largest generator of creator works due to its diversity.