On Thursday (7th March):Justice Sanjiv Khanna highlights the necessity for impartial and efficient adjudication in handling cross-border trade and commerce issues. He emphasizes the importance of fairness and effectiveness in resolving disputes that transcend national boundaries.
New Delhi: On Thursday (7 March), Supreme Court Justice Sanjiv Khanna praised India’s major progress in patent registrations, noting a huge increase in intellectual property rights achievements. In the last decade, the patents granted in India increased from 4,227 in the 2013–14 period to over 41,000 in 2023–24.
Justice Khanna highlighted the growing challenges to intellectual property, especially with new developments in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. He mentioned how the distinction between physical and digital innovations is becoming less clear. His comments were made at a special event called ‘Master Class on Intellectual Property Adjudication: Judicial Perspectives,’ organized by the Delhi High Court and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
“Today, the world has surfaced in a new avatar—the virtual world, a world without territorial borders. Physical presence and movement are not at all required. In an interconnected world, the significance of international rule of law and rule-based order cannot be overstated,” Justice Khanna said.
Further, Justice Khanna talked about the challenges and opportunities in the virtual world, a place without borders where having international rules is very important. He pushed for universal fairness and mutual respect in solving disputes that cross borders, emphasizing the need for judicial comity.
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Moreover, Justice Khanna praised WIPO for its leading role in protecting intellectual property worldwide. He explained how WIPO helps manage IP through a system that relies on self-regulation and expertise. The WIPO offers mechanisms that make it easier to apply for patents in several countries at once, simplifying the process for inventors and businesses to get international protection for their ideas.
“We have recognized and accepted the need for comity, including judicial comity. Judicial comity means the cooperation of various judicial systems around the world to ensure uniform application of laws to the extent best possible,” he said.
The event was attended by prominent figures like the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Manmohan, Justice Prathiba Singh, Eun-Joo Min from WIPO, and other respected members of the judiciary. The 4th WIPO Master Class, organized by the Delhi High Court, gathered judges from over 20 countries to share knowledge and experiences about handling intellectual property cases.
