Bona fide prosecution before wrong forum can exclude delay in rectification proceedings and preserve adjudication on merits.

Time spent in bona fide prosecution of a rectification petition before a forum lacking territorial jurisdiction may be excluded when assessing delay, provided the party acted diligently and did not abandon the remedy. The earlier petition was filed promptly after trade mark registration, returned only for want of jurisdiction, and was pursued in the proper forum immediately thereafter. On that basis, the petition was not treated as belated merely because it was ultimately filed in the correct forum later. The dismissal on delay was unsustainable, and the matter was remitted for fresh adjudication on merits.

---

---

Issues: Whether the rectification petition could be dismissed as barred by delay when the party had earlier pursued the remedy in a court lacking territorial jurisdiction and thereafter approached the proper forum immediately upon return of the petition.

Analysis: The earlier rectification petition had been filed promptly after registration of the trade mark, and the subsequent return of the petition was only because the Delhi High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction. The party continued to pursue the same remedy without abandonment or unexplained inaction, and the time spent before the wrong forum could not be ignored when assessing delay. In such circumstances, the principle underlying exclusion of time spent in bona fide prosecution before a court lacking jurisdiction applied, and the petition could not be treated as belated merely because it reached the correct forum later.

Conclusion: The dismissal of the rectification petition on the ground of delay was unsustainable and the challenge ought to be decided on merits.

Final Conclusion: The orders of the IPAB and the High Court were set aside and the matter was remitted for fresh adjudication on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: Time spent in bona fide prosecution of a remedy before a forum lacking jurisdiction is liable to be excluded when assessing delay, and diligent pursuit of the same relief prevents dismissal on limitation or laches grounds.

---