The proposal to fill the posts of Chairman and the Technical Member (Patents) at Intellectual Property Appellate Board, Chennai, is under consideration, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
IPAB is without a Chairman from last year, after Justice K.N. Basha attained superannuation on May 13. The Minister said that out of 30 sanctioned posts in IPAB, 12 posts are vacant. While the post of Library Information Officer had been deemed abolished, steps have been taken to fill the remaining vacancies, she added.
Ms. Sitharaman said that the posts of the Vice-Chairman and Technical Member (Trade Marks) will be filled keeping in view the judgment of the High Court of Madras while the matter of recruitment of Deputy Registrar and Court Officer had been taken up with the Union Public Service Commission.
The government had approved a plan for modernisation and strengthening of IPAB at a cost of Rs. 14.70 crore. The plan included provisions for construction of permanent building of IPAB at Tondiarpet in Chennai, creation of additional posts and upgrade of infrastructure. A sum of Rs. 11.13 crore had been utilised, said the written reply.
