Tracking Transferred IPAB Cases After Abolition

Explainer · IP Litigation · Last verified October 2026

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

You filed an appeal or rectification before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). Now the IPAB website is dead, the old case number returns nothing, and you cannot tell which court has your file. This explainer says where pending IPAB cases went, how the Delhi and Madras High Courts renumbered them, and how to find yours today. Last verified October 2026.

01Why old IPAB case numbers fail

The IPAB was abolished on 4 April 2021 under the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021. Its work moved to the High Courts and, for registry matters, back to the Registrar and the Controller. The old IPAB case numbers belong to a system that no longer takes updates.

That causes three practical problems.

• The number is different now. A transferred matter got a fresh High Court number. Searching the old IPAB number in a High Court system usually shows nothing.
• Hearing dates are easy to miss. If you do not know the new number, you cannot see the cause list. A missed hearing can end in an adverse order.
• Different courts, different schemes. Delhi and Madras handled the transfer in their own way. A method that works in one court may not work in the other.

02What happened to pending cases

Pending IPAB proceedings were transferred to the High Court that has jurisdiction. Most went to Delhi and Madras, because the IPAB had its main bench in Chennai and a large load from the northern and eastern regions went to Delhi.

Each High Court then had to do two things: place the matters before a judge, and give them a case number in its own scheme. Both courts set up dedicated IP Divisions (IPD) for this. The rules for those divisions are where the renumbering is set out.

Two points hold in both courts, based on what the courts and commentators have reported:

• Transferred matters were listed before the IP Division.
• No fresh or additional court fee was charged on transferred matters, because fees were already paid at the IPAB.

03Delhi High Court: transfer and renumbering

The Delhi High Court announced its Intellectual Property Division in July 2021. It notified the Delhi High Court Intellectual Property Rights Division Rules, 2021, followed by the Rules Governing Patent Suits, 2022.

Transfer count

Reports on the IP Division’s first annual report say that over 2,000 IPAB cases came to Delhi in the first year, and about 600 were resolved. For patents, the same report is said to list 414 patent appeals (187 disposed of) and 59 patent original petitions (40 disposed of). Other early estimates were higher, between 3,000 and 5,000, so treat any single figure as approximate.

How renumbering works

Delhi gives IP matters case-type codes that carry the IPD tag. One example is C.O.(COMM.IPD-TM), used for trade mark rectification petitions. Patent and design matters have their own IPD codes. A transferred IPAB matter appears under one of these codes with a new number and year.

To find a matter in Delhi, you can search by case-type code and number, or by party name and year. Party-name search is often the fastest, because you may not know the new number.

For how Delhi IPD cases are listed and followed day to day, see our guide to the IP Divisions of High Courts and how to track them.

04Madras High Court: transfer and renumbering

Madras was slower. The Madras High Court Intellectual Property Rights Division Rules, 2022 were notified in 2023, and the IP Division began work in April 2023.

Transfer count

A March 2023 report on a Madras High Court order says 2,090 cases had been transferred from the IPAB, and 1,094 of them were waiting for the IPD Rules to be notified. The court asked for the Rules to be notified within a week, because delay could harm litigants, especially in patent matters where the term can run out.

How renumbering works

Madras renumbered the transferred cases into the nomenclature set by its IPD Rules, without any fresh court fee. Practitioners should expect a new Madras number in place of the IPAB number.

Because the scheme and timing differ, never assume a Delhi method works in Madras. Check the Madras IPD Rules and the court’s own case status page.

05How to find your transferred case

Use this order. Stop when you find the matter.

1. Write down your old IPAB details. Old number, parties, date of filing, and the mark, patent or design number involved.
2. Pick the likely court. Matters from the Chennai bench base went to Madras. Others went to Delhi or the High Court with jurisdiction.
3. Search by party name and year on the High Court case status page. Try both parties and spelling variations.
4. Search by IP case-type code if you know it, for example C.O.(COMM.IPD-TM) in Delhi.
5. Check the IPD cause list for the party name for the next few weeks.
6. Ask the High Court registry in writing if nothing shows. Keep a copy of your IPAB order or filing receipt.

Also check the other side of the dispute. If your matter was linked to a registration at IP India, the registry record may show the status. For example, a rectification petition may be mentioned against the mark.

Many firms also watch Bombay and other courts for the same parties. See the Bombay High Court cause list tracker guide for that.

06Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

A transferred IPAB matter now sits under a fresh High Court number, so the fastest way back to it is a party-name search rather than the dead IPAB number. Claw lets you search by party name and track the cases, orders and hearings that follow across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, with results in under 5 seconds, so you can find a renumbered matter in Delhi or Madras and then watch its cause list. Its judgment research spans 30 crore+ judgments, with the Supreme Court covered from 1950 and High Courts from 1990. Claw does not use customer documents to train AI models.

Create a FREE Claw account to find your transferred matter by party name and get hearing and order alerts so you do not miss a listing. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

07Sources and further reading

Check the primary sources before you rely on any number here:

• Delhi High Court (IPD rules and annual report): delhihighcourt.nic.in
• Madras High Court (IPD rules and orders): madras.hc.in
• IP India: ipindia.gov.in
• WIPO Patent Judicial Guide, India, IP Division of the Delhi High Court: wipo.int
• Claw: clawlaw.in

Transfer counts come from secondary reports of court orders and annual reports, and they change as cases are decided. Last verified October 2026.

08Frequently asked questions