Commercial Courts Act Bars Intra-Court Appeals In Patent Disputes: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that an intra-court appeal is not maintainable against an order passed by a Single Judge while deciding a statutory patent appeal under the Patents Act. The court reiterated that the Commercial Courts Act does not permit a second appeal within the High Court.

“Any expansion of scope of the Commercial Courts Act will defeat its objectives and there is no ambiguity regarding appeals from decrees of Commercial Courts and Commercial Divisions under Section 13 of the said Act. There is no scope to invoke Clause 15 of Letters Patent for the purpose of entertaining the present Original Side Appeal” the court observed.

A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice C Kumarappan passed the order on December 12, 2025, while dismissing an intra-court appeal filed by Italian pharmaceutical company Italfarmaco SPA challenging an earlier decision of a Single Judge of the Madras High Court.

The dispute arose after the Patent Office rejected Italfarmaco's patent application. The company challenged that rejection before the High Court by filing a statutory appeal under Section 117A of the Patents Act. That appeal was heard by a Single Judge, who upheld the Patent Office's decision.

Italfarmaco then sought to challenge the Single Judge's order by filing an intra-court appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent read with Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act. The High Court Registry raised an objection on maintainability, questioning how such an appeal could lie once a statutory patent appeal had already been decided.

While responding to the objection, Italfarmaco argued that the Single Judge's decision should be treated as an original order and therefore amenable to an intra-court appeal, similar to orders passed in writ proceedings.

Rejecting this contention, the Division Bench examined the scheme of Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act and held that it strictly restricts appellate remedies. The court noted that while patent disputes fall within the definition of “commercial disputes,” appeals are permitted only in situations specifically enumerated under the statute.

The bench clarified that appeals against patent decisions are expressly governed by Section 117A of the Patents Act, which provides for a single appeal to the High Court. Once such an appeal is decided by a Single Judge, the law does not provide for any further intra-court appeal.

Holding that the Commercial Courts Act prevails over the Letters Patent, the court affirmed the objection raised by the Registry and rejected the intra-court appeal as not maintainable in law

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