Where IP Appeals Go After the IPAB Was Abolished (2026)

How-to · Intellectual Property · Appeals

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

If you want to appeal a decision of the Registrar of Trade Marks, the Controller of Patents, or the Registrar of Geographical Indications, you no longer go to the IPAB, because it has been abolished. These appeals now go to the High Courts, and some High Courts have set up dedicated Intellectual Property Divisions to hear them. Copyright appeals go to commercial courts, including the commercial divisions of the High Courts. This guide explains the new map, what happened to cases pending before the IPAB, and how to file. Last verified October 2026.

01The problem: the forum changed overnight

For nearly two decades, IP appeals had a single home: the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). In 2021 that home was removed, and every pending and future appeal had to find a new forum. For practitioners, the question became practical and urgent: where do I file now, and which rules apply?

The answer is not one forum but several, depending on the type of IP right. Trademark, patent and GI matters went one way, copyright went another, and two High Courts built dedicated divisions with their own rules. Getting the forum right is now the first step in any IP appeal.

02What happened to the IPAB

The IPAB was created in 2003 under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, and over time it also heard appeals under the Patents Act, the Copyright Act and the Geographical Indications Act. It was abolished through the Tribunals Reforms Ordinance of April 2021, which was then replaced by the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021.

The abolition was part of a wider rationalisation of appellate tribunals, explained in the Tribunal Reforms Act 2021. The effect for IP was immediate: the appellate functions of the IPAB were handed to the courts.

03Where each appeal goes now

The forum now depends on the IP right.

Appeals against the Registrar of Trade Marks, the Controller of Patents and the Registrar of Geographical Indications now lie to the High Court. Trademark rectification can also be brought directly before the High Court, in addition to the Registrar. Copyright appeals move to the commercial courts.

04The new IP Divisions

To handle the extra load, some High Courts set up dedicated Intellectual Property Divisions (IPDs). The Delhi High Court was the first, notifying the Intellectual Property Division Rules, 2022 and the Rules Governing Patent Suits, 2022 on 24 February 2022. The Madras High Court followed with its own IP division.

An IPD brings all IP matters (appeals, rectification, and IP suits) under one roof within the High Court, with specialised rules and rosters. This was meant to answer the early worry that the High Courts, already busy, might slow IP matters down.

05What happened to pending cases

Cases pending before the IPAB on the date of abolition were transferred to the High Courts that took over the subject matter. The transfer provisions let the High Court either continue the matter from the stage it had reached before the IPAB, or take it up afresh.

So a party whose appeal was mid-way before the IPAB did not have to start over by default, but the High Court had the discretion to hear it de novo. Checking the status and stage of a transferred matter in its new court is therefore essential.

06How to file an IP appeal

• Identify the forum. Trademark, patent and GI appeals go to the High Court; copyright appeals go to the commercial court or commercial division.
• Check for an IP Division. If the High Court has an IPD (as in Delhi and Madras), follow the IPD rules and formats.
• Prepare the appeal. Draft the memorandum of appeal with grounds, attach the order appealed from and the documents relied on, and verify by affidavit, within the limitation period prescribed under the relevant IP statute.
• Pay the fee and file. Pay the court fee and file with the High Court registry, then serve the other side and the Registrar or Controller as required.

07Where 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.

Now that IP appeals are scattered across the High Courts and their new IP Divisions, two things matter more than before: knowing how a given court has decided a point, and keeping tabs on a matter that may have changed forums. Claw covers both. You can follow a transferred appeal, its orders and its hearings, at the High Court or forum now hearing it, out of the 9,102 courts, benches and forums on the platform, and you can search 30 crore+ judgments by section, party or advocate and have the rulings back in under 5 seconds, reaching the Supreme Court from 1950 and the High Courts from 1990.

Claw does not use the documents customers upload to train its AI models. Open a free Claw account to follow your IP appeal in its new court by party or advocate name. To research the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

• India Code (Trade Marks Act, Patents Act, and the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021): indiacode.nic.in
• Delhi High Court (IP Division Rules, 2022): delhihighcourt.nic.in
• PRS Legislative Research (Tribunal Reforms Act overview): prsindia.org
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Forum, rules and limitation vary by High Court and IP right, so check the current statutes and court rules before you act.

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