The Delhi High Court recently ordered an Assistant Controller General of Patents (ACGP) to attend a course on passing judicial orders after being “seriously disturbed” by an order issued by the officer while rejecting a patent application.
The order, according to a single-judge Justice C Hari Shankar, was a “total mockery” of the functions vested in the quasi-judicial authorities in the office of the Controller General of Patents.
Following a personal meeting with the Controller General of Patents, the court requested that the case be assigned to another officer for fresh consideration.
“The learned Controller General of Patents is also requested to depute the officer who has passed the impugned order Mr. Ashlesh Mourya, ACGP to undergo a course in passing of judicial orders, to be conducted by the Delhi Judicial Academy,” the order stated.
The bench noted that instead of “taking the trouble of typing out the order,” the officer simply cut and pasted paragraphs from relevant documents. Observing that the order in question shocked the court’s conscience, Justice Shankar stated, “Though such cutting and pasting is itself disquieting, the Court would not have taken serious note thereof, had the ACGP condescended to supplement the cut and pasted paragraphs with his own reasoning, displaying some minimal application of mind.”
Noting that this was the fourth such case before the court, Justice Shankar stated, “If the passing of such orders continues, the Court may be forced to take more drastic steps, which may ultimately impact the officer who passes the order personally.” However, for the time being, the Court is refraining from doing so.”
The single bench allowed an appeal moved by an entity, Synthes GMBH and quashed the impugned order issued on October 8, 2020, by the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs, in which its application for a patent on “Bone Fixation Apparatus” was denied.
