The Supreme Court of India extends the limitation period w.e.f. March 14, 2021 until further orders

Owing to the ongoing second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, the Hon’ble Supreme of India, vide its order dated April 27, 2021, has extended the limitation period for filing of cases in courts and tribunals with effect from March 14, 2021 until further orders.

As per the latest order, the period from March 14, 2021 will stand excluded from computing the limitation period under all special and general acts and the Court further directed that the time period for doing any act under any law will also stand extended.

The said order of the court came in response to an application filed by the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA), which sought revival of the suo moto order dated March 23, 2020 passed by the Supreme Court, which had extended the limitation period w.e.f March 15, 2020 until further orders.

The extension of limitation was lifted by the Supreme Court only recently (i.e. vide an order dated March 8, 2021) under the impression that the COVID-19 situation is improving, however, the second wave of the pandemic has created an alarming situation within the country and put the litigants in a difficult position again.

A formal confirmation from the Indian Intellectual Property Office regarding the “impact of this Order on extension of all limitations” is currently awaited. We shall duly update you regarding the same.

We advise you to provide us with instructions and documents for any filings/ actions in respect of all IP matters in the regular manner, so that we can take the necessary to meet the original deadlines.

We continue to serve clients in the usual manner as our teams are working remotely with 100% capacity and robust IT systems in place.

We are closely monitoring the developing situation at our end and to help minimize the health risks of our staff, clients, and attorneys, our office is functioning remotely. The work schedules for the attorneys and staff remain unchanged. We will continue to be reachable by email and of course, virtual meetings will replace our regular in-person meetings.

Should you have any questions please feel free to contact Ms. Swati Bhanot, Partner (swati.bhanot@iprattorneys.com) for trademarks and Ms. Nidhi Anand, Partner (nidhi.anand@iprattorneys.com) for Patents.

Lastly and most importantly, our prayers and thoughts for every one affected by this global pandemic.

We remain strong in spirit and wish all of you good health.