Section 64 of the Patents Act deals with filing of revocation petition by “persons interested” which is defined in Section 2(1)(t) of the Act. Is it possible for a host of interested persons to file a single revocation petition? Yes, provided they intend to assail a patent on the same grounds and using the same prior art documents. There is no bar in the Act against filing of a joint revocation petition.
It appears the IPAB has indeed begun accepting joint revocation petitions.
Is it possible for parties to file a representative revocation petition? The CPC allows filing of representative suits provided all parties on whose behalf the suit is filed, have the same interest in the suit. Since there is no bar in doing so under the Patents Act, and it hurts none (other than the IPAB’s revenue), my opinion is it is possible for one party to file a representative petition on behalf of all interested parties.
The IPAB Rules envisage another alternative- Rule 15 of the IPAB Rules permits parties to file intervention applications. So, one party could file a revocation petition, with other interested parties filing intervention applications to take part in the revocation proceedings.
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