Delhi HC seeks Centre's reply on plea alleging unlawful data access in Patent Office
The Delhi High Court on Friday (May 30, 2025) directed the Centre to file its response to a plea by the All India Patent Officers' Welfare Association (AIPOWA), which seeks a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into alleged unlawful access of sensitive unpublished data in the country's patent and trademark offices by a private multinational company.
'What's going on in the Patent Office?' remarked Justice Sachin Datta at the outset of the hearing. The court noted that the plea raised a 'valid allegation' but suggested the matter could be pursued as a public interest litigation (PIL).
However, counsel for the petitioners, advocate Gyanant Kumar Singh, clarified that the association members were serving officers in the same office and, therefore, could not declare that they had no personal interest in the matter — an essential requirement for filing a PIL.
Taking the matter on record, the court observed in its order, 'It is alleged that a private multinational company has been given unbridled access to sensitive data without requisite checks and balance. Petitioner[s] seek that an appropriate investigation be conducted in the matter. Let a reply be filed.' The matter has been posted for further hearing on August 29.
In its petition, AIPOWA has sought a probe into how sensitive, unpublished information related to pending patent and trademark applications was allegedly accessed by representatives of Kaizen International, a private multinational firm, without proper authorisation.
The plea claimed that Kaizen is a multinational company with clients in various industries and fields 'where trade secrets and innovations are coveted assets.'
It cautioned that access to data in patent and trademark offices by Kaizen 'may have compromised the functioning of Intellectual Property offices, requiring investigation and measures to tackle the fallouts.'
The Association represents Group-A patent officers who perform quasi-judicial functions relating to the grant of patents.
The Association said the office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) initially denied, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the existence of any document with regard to work being executed by Kaizen.
It was only after a Capacity Building Commission (CBC) report referred to Kaizen's role that the CGPDTM furnished a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dated March 6, 2023. The MoU—signed by the CGPDTM, CBC, and the Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS) Foundation—mentioned coordination with the Kaizen team for 'process improvement.'
The plea stated that while Kaizen International was not a party to the MoU, the agreement 'opened doors for it without any tendering process by stating,' adding that the MoU was signed by Controller General Unnat P. Pandit as the head of the CGPDTM without the requisite approval of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
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