Novatis on Wednesday filed a writ petition with the Madras High Court contesting the Chennai located Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB)'s recent decision to allow the former Patent Controller General S Chandrasekharan as the IPAB technical member to hear the Swiss drug major's patent plea for cancer drug Glivec.

The IPAB had on July 20 dismissed Novartis petition against the appointment of S Chandrasekharan as the IPAB technical member.

Novartis had taken strong exception to the appointment of Chandrasekharan as the technical member of the IPAB terming him an interested party on the plea that Chandrasekharan was the controller general of patent office when the Novartis' patent application for its blockbuster cancer drug Glivec was rejected. The Novartis had challenged the matter before the Board.