The Hon'ble Madras High Court holds that the bar on the Controller of Patents to extend the time prescribed for replying to the First Examination Report under Rule 138 of the Patent Rules, 2003 read with sub-rule (5) of Rule 24B, beyond a period of six months, could be relaxed by the Court exercising its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, if convinced that the situation warrants such condonation. PNB Vesper Life Science Pvt Ltd vs The Controller General of Patents (Madras High Court on 14th March, 2022) The Petitioner is a Research-based Bio-Pharmaceutical Organization, incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 in the year 2011, involved in the business of developing drugs for the treatment of serious diseases. A patent Application titled ‘Novel Cholecystokini, Receptor Ligands’ was filed by the petitioner before the Patent Office at Chennai. The Patent relates to a drug used in the treatment…