Counsel split on IPAB closure While in-house and private practice counsel see the closure of India’s Intellectual Property Appellate Board as an opportunity for wider reform of the country’s overburdened judicial system, they have different views on how that reform should be achieved, several revealed to Managing IP this week. While some say that the technical expertise of IPAB members has been useful for IP owners, others argue that the huge delays in appointing experts and members to the board have made the hearing process too arduous. Mohit Patwardhan, legal and IP counsel at pharma company ACG Group in Mumbai, says that because the courts are already overburdened, the