W.P.(C)-IPD 11/2026 $~57 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C)-IPD 11/2026 NOVARTIS AG & ANR. .....Petitioners Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Ms. Archana Shankar, Mr. Sharawan Chopra, Mr. Devinder Rawat, Mr. Sachin Malik, Mr. Achyut Tiwari, Ms. Krisha Baweja and Mr. Parth Malhotra, Advocates. versus CONTROLLER GENERAL OF PATENTS, DESIGNS, TRADEMARKS AND GEOGRAPHICALINDICATIONS & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Ms. Nidhi Raman, CGSC with Mr. Om Ram and Ms. Nikita Singh, Advocates for R1 and R2. Mr. Afzal B. Khan, Mr. Dominic Alvares and Mr. Sharad Besoya, Advocates for NATCO Pharma Ltd. CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE JYOTI SINGH O R D E R % 17.03.2026 1. This writ petition is filed on behalf of the Petitioners under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India praying for a limited direction to the Respondents No.1 and 2 to expedite the disposal of Indian Patent Application No. 1014/DELNP/2011 including the pre-grant oppositions, amongst other reliefs. 2. To the extent necessary, the factual matrix is that on 10.02.2021, Petitioners filed a national phase application under no. 1014/DELNP/2011 (IN’1014) under the PCT with Patent Office, Delhi. The application is This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/03/2026 at 13:45:57 W.P.(C)-IPD 11/2026 derived out of PCT/EP2009/060793 (WO2010/020675) having International filing date of 20.08.2009 and claiming priority from US Application 61/091,037 dated 22.08.2008. The Indian National Phase Application is titled ‘PYRROLOPYRIMIDINE COMPOUNDS AS CDK INHIBITORS’. 3. It is stated that the application was published under Section 11A of the Patents Act, 1970 (‘1970 Act’) on 02.12.2011 and on 02.08.2012, Petitioners filed a request for examination. First Examination Report (‘FER’) was issued by Respondents No.1 and 2 on 23.03.2017 and Petitioners filed response thereto on 12.09.2017. From time to time several pre-grant oppositions were filed i.e., on 22.11.2018 by Respondent No.3; 08.07.2019 by Respondent No.4; 18.01.2024 by Respondent No.5; and 13.08.2025 by Respondent No.6. Reply statements to the pre-grant oppositions as also affidavits etc., as required, have been filed by the Petitioners. 4. The grievance ventilated in the present petition and as articulated by Mr. Pravin Anand, learned counsel for the Petitioners, is that despite the fact that the patent application was filed by the Petitioners on 10.02.2011, till date the same is pending consideration with Respondents No.1 and 2, who have failed to appreciate and apply the statutory scheme governing pre-grant oppositions under Section 25(1) read with Rule 55 of The Patents Rules, 2003 and have acted contrary to the legislative intent that such proceedings are intended to aid the examination of the patent application and are not meant to prolong the proceedings. Respondents No.1 and 2 have failed to undertake the exercise of examining whether the pre-grant oppositions were genuine or a mere abuse of process of law filed with the objective of delaying the grant. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/03/2026 at 13:45:57 W.P.(C)-IPD 11/2026 5. It is further urged that the patent has a limited 20 year statutory term and even if the patent is now granted, only 3 years and 5 months will be left for the Petitioners to enjoy the fruits of their hard work and labour. It is also highlighted that the FER itself was issued on 23.03.2017 i.e., after 5 years and 7 crucial years have been lost only because pre-grant oppositions were entertained from 2018-2025 without even examining their genuineness. Notices were issued on the four pre-grant oppositions after 8, 42, 7 and 3 months, respectively. This reflects a very unfortunate state of affairs in the Patent Office, where an application for grant of patent for an important invention has not been considered albeit filed on 10.02.2011 and the patent if granted will expire on 20.08.2029. In this backdrop, Mr. Anand urges the Court to give a time bound direction to Respondents No.1 and 2 to expeditiously consider the patent application of the Petitioners along with pre-grant oppositions. 6. Issue notice. 7. Counsels, as above, accept notice on behalf of the respective Respondents. 8. As noted above, by this petition the Petitioners seek a direction to Respondents No.1 and 2 to decide the pending patent application of the Petitioners in a time bound manner owing to the fact that 15 years have passed since the application was filed on 10.02.2011. The narrative of facts given above indicates that after the patent application was filed by the Petitioners, the FER was issued on 23.03.2017 i.e., after 5 years. Four pre- grant oppositions were filed spread over 7 years from 2018 to 2025 and even at this stage there was a delay inasmuch as notices were issued after 8, 42, 7 and 3 months. Mr. Anand is right in his submission that even if the patent is This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/03/2026 at 13:45:57 W.P.(C)-IPD 11/2026 granted on the claimed invention, the same will expire on 20.08.2029 since it has a 20 year statutory term, which means that the Petitioners will be able to enjoy the fruits of their hard work only for 3 years and 5 months i.e., less than 17% of the total term. The statutory scheme of pre-grant oppositions, as rightly flagged by Mr. Anand is meant to aid the examination of the patent application and cannot become a weapon or tool to delay the proceedings for grant of patent, which is exactly what has happened in the present case. This is an unacceptable state of affairs. When there is a delay in considering patent applications, not only it adversely impacts the inventor and his/her hard work but also public interest inasmuch as in a given case public will be deprived of the fruits and benefits of an important invention on time. This Court is sanguine that efforts will be made by the Patent Office to expedite the proceedings for considering applications for grant of patent and there will be no unnecessary delays in issuing of FERs and/or notices on pre/post- grant oppositions etc. 9. Considering that a long period of 15 years have elapsed from the time the subject patent application was filed by the Petitioners, this writ petition is disposed of with a direction to Respondents No.1 and 2 to decide the application and the pre-grant oppositions as expeditiously as possible and not later than four months from today. Copy of this order will be sent by counsel for Respondents No.1 and 2 to the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks for information as also for taking necessary steps to expedite proceedings pertaining to grant of patent applications. JYOTI SINGH, J MARCH 17, 2026/YA This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/03/2026 at 13:45:57