Justice Prathiba M Singh's Book On Patent Law Launched By Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Delhi High Court judge, Justice Prathiba M Singh's book on Patent Law was launched on Saturday by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with other foreign dignitaries.

The book, which has been published by Thomson Reuters, was launched at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan.

The book launch event witnessed the presence of the following:

- Union Finance Minister Niramla Sitharaman

- Annabelle Bennett, Former Judge of Federal Court of Australia, Sydney

- Colin Birss, Lord Justice, Court of Appeal, England and Wales

- Klaus Grabinski, President of Unified Patent Court (EU), Luxembourg

Senior Advocate Harish N. Salve, who could not attend the event physically, sent a video message to congratulate Justice Singh on the book launch. (Late) Senior Advocate Fali S. Nariman was also one of the invitees. 

The writing of the book commenced in 2015 but Justice Singh's elevation as a judge of the Delhi High Court in 2017 slowed the pace. She then recommenced writing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This book on patent law has been the culmination of a long and arduous journey which began around the time when I was designated a Senior Advocate in December 2013. At that time, Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr Harish Salve, who had argued landmark patent cases, nudged me to write a book on Patents, and I am always grateful to them for this,” the acknowledgment of the book reads.

In her address, Union Finance Miniser Nirmala Sitharaman said that the BJP government in 2015, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, set up a think tank to look at IPR laws in India of which Justice Singh was a very active member and contributed immensely to it.

She also appreciated the Delhi High Court for having a separate IP division and the way the bench handled IPR matters rapidly.

“…it shows that there is a will there is a way and the Delhi High Court overcame all the difficulties that it faced to set up this bench and that bench actually proved that it was efficient in clearing up the backlog, streamline the way it was being handled, and give confidence that it doesn't matter that there is a backlog but if it is a dedicated bench, things can move, and especially with the interest in commercial matters, and also in India, the policy going towards greater innovations. greater copyright and greater trademark registrations within India,” she added.

Sitharaman further said that in India, IPR laws and the policy are all being given push and that in research and development and patenting and innovations which are happening in very big scale in the country now, the environment is being made conducive for that purpose.

“So the IPR laws, we are trying to make them as a facilitator, booster, and not a barrier in the process of R&D. We've taken quite a few steps and I singularly thank honourable Prime Minister for this particular policy, which after a lot of consultation has come up in 2016. A few things were taken up soon after that,” she said.

Concluding her address, Sitharaman said that it was music to her ears when one of the speakers identified that Justice Singh's contribution singularly stands out for how she has framed Indian IPR ecosystem, government policy and the way in which courts have handled IPR matters vis-a-vis what is developing outside and bringing out the “Indian element.”

“I think this is a very big contribution that Justice Prathiba Singh has made not just for jurisprudence, but also for India's contribution on a very contemporary topic, which is developing in such tractability because of technology getting into all our lives. And this book, I think is going to be for several 100 years as the core reference material on intellectual property. I wish you all the very best. She's got the right mix of a practicing judicial officer. A thinking mind in a very legal sense in that way. But I think ultimately, a good teacher in that. She makes things simple and easy to read. All of which is in this two volume book,” she said.

Justice Singh, in her address, said that more than 1100 independent judgments were reviewed and more than 500 of them have been cited in the book.

“None of us knew that there were so many judgments in Indian patents and all the judges whose judgments are cited in the book… One of the features of this book, if you look at the brochure that's been circulated is list all of these judges. There are a total of 176 judges from India and some judges from abroad whose names are found in the book…because the reports with the legislative history and the judges and their judgments, was not available in one place,” Justice Singh said.

Talking about the vision for the book, Justice Singh said that India is in a unique position in Intellectual Property and that Indians create annually the largest quantum of copyrighted works.

“The innovation landscape has undergone a complete change. Indians are innovating more and patenting more. The judicial system has to prepare for this thunderstorm of patents, which would definitely read the courts in the next decade or so. We need more literature on the subject,” she said.

She further advised the young lawyers to write and publish more in the field of IPR and pharma space. Justice Singh also said that patents are a means to the goal, ie incentivize innovation, for the benefit of society and the world.

“Patent owners have to therefore be conscious of their role of ensuring the greater good. The COVID 19 pandemic taught us that innovation, patents and enabling access to innovation is of crucial importance for the benefit of humankind. Thus, in the context of more and more diseases, health constraints which affect human beings as also issues concerning climate change. There is a need to strive for Responsible IP. It can't just be IP, it has to be responsible IP,” she said.