Himachal Pradesh High Court Refuses Interim Relief In SML Patent Infringement Suit Over Territorial Jurisdiction

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has recently refused interim relief to agricultural inputs company SML Limited in its patent infringement suit against Happy Agro Chemicals and others over the agricultural micronutrient product "SELZIC". The court held that the company failed to establish a prima facie case on territorial jurisdiction.Justice Sandeep Sharma held that the issue of territorial jurisdiction had to be decided before examining the allegations of patent infringement.SML holds an Indian...

Bombay HC Says Patent Rejection Cannot Rest On Bald Common Knowledge Claim, Remands Deepak Nitrite Case

The Bombay High Court on 6 July held that the Controller of Patents cannot reject a patent application by relying on “common general knowledge” unless the source of such knowledge is identified and it is established that the knowledge existed before the application's priority date. Justice Arif Doctor set aside the order passed by the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs rejecting Deepak Nitrite Limited's patent application for a free-flowing food grade sodium nitrite and its production...

Delhi HC Rejects Intra-Cellular Therapies' Patent Appeal, Holds Bioavailability Alone Insufficient

The Delhi High Court on 6 July upheld the order of the Controller of Patents and Designs dated 27 April 2023, which had rejected the patent application filed by Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. for “Organic Compounds” on the ground that the claimed invention lacked novelty. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc.'s appeal against the rejection of its patent application for deuterated organic compounds used in treating psychiatric disorders, holding that the claimed...

Delhi High Court Orders Itel, Infinix, Tecno Phones' Maker to Deposit Pro Tem Security In InterDigital Patent Suit

The Delhi High Court has directed Shenzhen Transsion Holdings, which sells smartphones under the Itel, Infinix and Tecno brands, to deposit pro tem security with the Registrar General in patent infringement suits filed by InterDigital Patent Holdings over Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) covering 3G, 4G, 5G and HEVC video coding technologies. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the order on July 1 while deciding InterDigital's applications seeking an interim pro tem security deposit pending...

Delhi High Court Upholds Rejection Of Swiss Company's Patent For Plastic Static Mixer

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld the rejection of Swiss company Sulzer Mixpac AG's patent application for a plastic static mixer used to mix molten polymers. It held that the claimed invention did not involve an inventive step over the company's own earlier patents and amounted to "a mere modification" based on prior art. A division bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla upheld the earlier decision rejecting the application filed by the Swiss company. It found...

California Northern District Court Rejects Uber's Eligibility Challenge To LBT GPS Tracking Patents

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California on 26 June 2026 held that Uber Technologies Inc.'s motion for judgment on the pleadings against LBT IP II LLC could not be sustained, finding that the asserted GPS tracking and location-display patents were not directed to abstract ideas and were patent-eligible. Judge Rita F. Lin rejected Uber's plea to invalidate LBT's patents at the pleadings stage. She held that the claim "involves more than merely gathering data,...

Bombay High Court Sets Aside Revocation Of SAATHI's Patent For Natural Fibre Absorbent Article

The Bombay High Court has recently set aside an order revoking a patent granted to SAATHI Inc. for an absorbent article made from natural fibres. The court held that the Controller of Patents revoked the patent without giving reasons, departed from the Opposition Board's recommendation without explaining why, and failed to decide whether the opponent was entitled to maintain the post-grant opposition. Justice Arif S. Doctor delivered the judgment on June 15, 2026. The challenge arose from a...

Calcutta High Court Upholds Rejection of German Research Organisation's Patent For Biomass Growth Method

The Calcutta High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by German research organisation Fraunhofer Gesellschaft against the rejection of its patent application for a method of stimulating biomass growth in a bioreactor. It held that the invention's specification was excessively broad and failed to sufficiently disclose how the invention could be performed. The court also found that the application did not disclose the source and geographical origin of the biological material used in the...

National Biodiversity Authority Approval Has No Bearing On Patentability: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that approval granted by the National Biodiversity Authority under biodiversity laws for pursuing intellectual property rights does not determine whether an invention qualifies for patent protection. The court dismissed Shaafi Naturcure LLP's challenge to the rejection of its patent application for a six-herb asthma treatment. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed the firm's appeal against a 2020 order of the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs. The order...

Patent Office Cannot Raise New Objections Beyond Scope Of Remand: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that a patent matter remanded solely to cure a breach of natural justice cannot be treated as a fresh examination proceeding, and the Patent Office cannot use such a remand to introduce entirely new prior art references or fresh grounds of objection. Justice Arif S. Doctor passed the ruling while allowing an application filed by Qualyst Transporter Solutions LLC, a United States-based company whose patent application has been under prosecution in India for nearly...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Rejection Of Nippon Signal Patent Application For Train Controller Technology

The Delhi High Court has set aside an order refusing a patent application for a train-control system developed by Japanese company The Nippon Signal Co., Ltd., after finding that the Patent Office had not adequately dealt with the company's submissions distinguishing the invention from the cited prior-art documents. Justice Jyoti Singh, in a judgment delivered on May 29, remanded the matter to the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs for fresh consideration and directed that a decision...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Vacates Injunction Against Safex Chemicals In Patent Dispute

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has vacated an interim injunction restraining Safex Chemicals Private Limited in a patent infringement suit after finding, prima facie, that there existed no cause of action or wrong against the company within Himachal Pradesh to invoke the court's territorial jurisdiction. A division bench of Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin Chander Negi passed the order on June 4. The bench allowed Safex's appeal against a June 6, 2025 order of a Single Judge...