Delhi High Court Grants Injunction To Philips Against Geetech For Unauthorized Medical Software

The Delhi High Court on 13 March 2026 granted an ex‑parte ad‑interim injunction in favour of the Dutch healthcare conglomerate Philips, restraining several entities from reproducing or selling counterfeit versions of its proprietary medical diagnostic software.

Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that Philips had established a strong prima facie case regarding the systematic piracy of its Integrated Security Tool (IST) certificates. The Bench noted:

“The plaintiffs appear to be the owners of the proprietary software, CSIP materials, IST certificates and associated intellectual property, all of which constitute 'Literary Works' protected under the Copyright Act, 1957. Defendant No.1 appears to be engaged in the systematic counterfeiting and unauthorized reproduction of plaintiffs' IST certificates and proprietary service documentation.”

Philips informed the Court that Geetech Medical Systems and Services had been caught selling counterfeit IST certificates for sums exceeding Rs. 6.6 lakh to an independent investigator. The company further contended that these illicit activities pose a serious risk to public health, as counterfeit certificates could result in diagnostic inaccuracies, degraded image quality, and compromised patient safety.

In its pleadings, Philips stated that it is a global leader in health technology, specializing in cardiovascular care, magnetic resonance imaging, and interventional guided therapy. Its diagnostic systems, used in hospitals across more than 100 countries, are controlled by proprietary software and a specialized Customer Service Intellectual Property (CSIP) system critical for system maintenance. It also explained that it employs the Integrated Security Tool (IST) as a digital rights management solution to restrict access to these sensitive components to authorized partners only.

Reviewing the evidence, the Court held that Philips appears to be the rightful owner of the software, manuals, and certificates, which qualify as protected “Literary Works” under the Copyright Act, 1957.

The Court also noted that forensic analysis and a third-party investigation confirmed the counterfeit nature of the certificates distributed by Geetech. The Bench observed that the balance of convenience favors the plaintiffs, as unauthorised reproduction constitutes misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information.

Consequently, the Court restrained the defendants from “infringing or dealing with, in any manner, the plaintiffs' intellectual property rights, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, in the proprietary software used, and/or installed in, its medical imaging devices by making counterfeit replicas, creating unauthorized copies of plaintiffs' authentic and genuine proprietary software, by offering for sale, selling and/or distributing such counterfeit or unauthorized copies of the plaintiffs' proprietary software through any and all mediums.”

The Court highlighted that permitting such infringing activities to continue would cause irreparable harm to Philips' commercial reputation and goodwill, which cannot be adequately compensated in monetary terms.

The Judge directed the relevant telecommunications providers to furnish user details for specific numbers and ordered the relevant banking entity to disclose account-holder information associated with Geetech's operations. Meta was instructed to take down Geetech's Facebook account within 72 hours.

Accordingly, the Court ordered Geetech to maintain the status quo and file a statement of profits in a sealed cover before the Joint Registrar (Judicial) on 14 May 2026, and ahead of the next hearing scheduled for 14 September 2026.