– India was put under lockdown on March 25, 2020 for a three week period. The government has now extended the lockdown until May 3, 2020.

-In response, the Indian Intellectual Property Office (IPO) which had initially closed for 21 days, will now remain closed to the public until May 3, 2020. Effectively,

1. all due dates falling between the period March 25 – May 3, 2020 are now extended until May 4, 2020.
2. Hearings scheduled during the aforesaid period also stand cancelled – fresh hearing dates will be provided by the IPO in due course.
3. E-filing services shall remain unaffected during the extended lockdown.

-The Supreme Court of India has also passed an unprecedented order on account of which the period of limitation for filing (petitions/applications/suits/appeals/all other proceedings) in all courts/tribunals stands extended with effect from March 15, 2020 until further orders are passed on this by the Supreme Court.

– Regular functioning of the courts remains suspended during the extended lockdown period. However, as during the initial lockdown period, courts will continue to hear urgent matters during this time via video-conferencing. The number of benches hearing such matters through videoconferencing is set to increase in the extended lockdown.

– the Indian Supreme Court has in fact issued ‘Guidelines For Court Functioning Through Video Conferencing’ in a suo moto case on April 6, 2020 (in force until further orders). Essentially, the Guidelines make measures taken by courts to reduce physical presence of stakeholders within court premises for social distancing and best public health practices as lawful and authorise courts to ensure robust functioning through video conferencing technologies by adopting suitable modalities (including making video conferencing facilities available for litigants with no access to such facilities). However, mutual consent of both parties would be needed to record evidence via video conferencing. Also, to ensure seamless ‘virtual courts’, every court would have to maintain a helpline for grievances regarding video feed and line during and immediately after a hearing. If video conferencing works well during these difficult times, one can expect greater reliance on such digital tools by courts even in the long term.

-Meanwhile, beginning March 19, 2020, the Remfry & Sagar team migrated to ‘working from home’. All attorneys are fully equipped to work in an offsite digital environment and we are ensuring that it is business as usual for all clients.

-We will keep you updated of any unique IP/legal issues that may arise in these unprecedented times, and work with you to address them in the requisite manner.

-To ensure accurate and timely execution of your instructions, we request you to send all communications by email.

-If you have any questions/queries on your matters, please contact the attorneys handling the matter or get in touch with us at remfry-sagar@remfry.com