Appointing Scientific Advisors In Patent Disputes

Introduction

Patent disputes that involve complex technologies cannot usually be resolved by judges alone. Training in the law is hardly sufficient to understand the nuances of the technology underlying a patent, and by corollary, makes it difficult to adjudicate on questions of patent infringement. For this reason, courts are allowed to appoint independent Scientific Advisors to assist in the understanding of the scientific or technical questions pertaining to the dispute in question.

In India, this is contained in Section 115 of the Patents Act, 1970, which empowers the court to appoint an independent Scientific Advisor to assist the court, or to inquire into questions of fact or opinion (but not questions of law), as formulated by the court. Such appointments may be made by the court in any suit for infringement or any proceeding under the Patents Act (effectively, in any patent dispute), and critically, at any point of time, regardless of whether an