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©New Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Lydia Gomez

KUALA LUMPUR: Intellectual property courts have pinned the problem of a backlog on lawyers who take too long to compile documents in cases.

Since its inception on July 17 last year, 115 cases have yet to be set for trial despite the fact that they were registered more than a year ago, creating a growing backlog of cases.

High Court judge Datuk Ramly Ali, who is head of the Intellectual Property division at the High Court and Sessions Court, said lawyers were required to file all documents pertaining to a case within three months after pleadings, following which the court would set a hearing date.

In a statement yesterday on addressing the problem of delays, he said: "So far, only 25 per cent of the 222 cases registered here since the court was set up have practiced this.

"The rest failed because lawyers were unable to prepare the relevant documents on time. Some even take six to nine months to do so."
Delays had caused some cases to be postponed to dates as far in the future as February 2010.

Ramly said the most common excuse among lawyers was that the cases involved too many documents and some of them had to be obtained from overseas.

He added that some cases had to be struck off because the lawyers say there were inordinate delays in preparing the documents.

"Although the courts have completed 78 cases, that number could have been higher if lawyers prepared the affidavits and documents within the given time."

Since the set up of the IP courts, 150 existing cases had been handled and 72 new ones were registered from July 17 last year until this month.

Cases heard in the courts include those under the Trade Descriptions Act 1972, Copyright Act 1987, Patent Act 1983 and Optical Disc Act 2000.

Ramly said success of the IP courts depended heavily on the commitment of lawyers in preparing the necessary documents needed for cases to proceed with trials.

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