Chakraborti is the deputy controller general of patents in Kolkata office. He will be the technical member of a three-person Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) with the chairman, Justice MHS Ansari and vice-chairman, ZS Negi.
In August 2007 the Madras High Court referred Novartis' appeal against the rejection to the newly constituted IPAB. But Novartis objected to the presence of technical expert S Chandrasekaran on the board on the grounds that he was Controller General of Patents at the time the original Glivec patent application was rejected.
The government then proposed that the appeal be heard without a technical member. Natco Pharma objected to this arrangement and appealed to the Supreme Court. In January the Supreme Court postponed the hearing.
"Novartis is pleased with the appointment of the new technical member Dr PC Chakraborti and looks forward to a timely review of the case before the IPAB" said Ranjit Shahani, vice chairman and managing director, Novartis India Limited.
The Supreme Court has directed the IPAB to hear the matter on November 3 on a day-to-day basis.
The News Focus in the May edition of Managing IP magazine looks at India's patent litigation system in more detail.
