PATENT
Bombay High Court Remands Pharmaceutical Patent Opposition, Sets Aside Patent Office Order As Unreasoned
The Bombay High Court has set aside an order of the Deputy Controller of Patents that had dismissed a post-grant opposition, finding that the decision contained no real reasoning and did not include the technical analysis required under the law. In a judgment dated March 10, 2026, Justice Arif S. Doctor noted that the patent office had rejected the prior-art claim relied on by the opponent without explaining the basis for doing so. The Court said that because the order was appealable, the...
Delhi High Court Upholds Order Refusing Interim Relief To Novo Nordisk In Semaglutide Patent Dispute With Dr Reddy's
The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed Danish Pharma Company Novo Nordisk's appeal seeking an interim injunction against Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd in a patent infringement dispute over the anti-diabetic drug Semaglutide. The drug is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's blockbuster diabetes medicine Ozempic, which has also gained global attention for its weight loss effects. A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla upheld a Single Judge's order refusing...
Karnataka High Court Allows Wacom To Collect Evidence From Bengaluru-Based Company For US Patent Suit
The Karnataka High Court has recently allowed Japanese technology firm Wacom Company Limited to collect documents and testimony from Bengaluru-based semiconductor manufacturer Cirel Systems Pvt Ltd.The evidence will be used in a patent infringement lawsuit pending in the United States between Wacom and Chinese company Shenzhen Qianfenyi Intelligent Technology Co Ltd, in which the Indian firm is not a party.Justice P. Sree Sudha, who heard the matter, held that India's declaration under Article...
Orissa High Court Allows Application For Patent Restoration As Expiry Was Within Covid-19 Period
The Orissa High Court on 12 February, allowed a writ petition filed by Green Energy Resources, a Sambalpur-based firm, permitting it to apply for the restoration of a patent that had ceased to have effect due to the non-payment of renewal fees. Justice B.P. Routray observed that the company's explanation for the lapse was convincing and noted that the patent's expiry occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court remarked that under the given facts, there was “no difficulty... for considering...
Delhi High Court Slams Cryptic Patent Refusal, Remands Fertin Pharma Application For Re-Consideration
The Delhi High Court on 18 February set aside an order by the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs that had rejected a patent application from Fertin Pharma A/S, observing that the regulator failed to provide the requisite reasoning expected of a quasi-judicial authority. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that the original refusal was “cryptic,” whereas reasoning is “the bedrock of all orders, including those passed by quasi-judicial authorities.” The Court was hearing an appeal under...
Delhi High Court Says Patent Amendments Permissible At Appellate Stage, Sets Aside Daikin Refusal
The Delhi High Court on 26 February reiterated that patent amendments are permissible even at the appellate stage, so long as they fall within the statutory framework of the Patents Act. Justice Jyoti Singh partially allowed the appeal filed by Daikin Industries Ltd, setting aside the Patent Office order that had earlier denied the company a patent for its 'Shell-And-Plate Heat Exchanger.' Observing that the specific modifications proposed by the company were permissible, as they neither...
Patent Examination Cannot Be Skipped Due To Pre-Grant Opposition: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has set aside the rejection of a fungicide patent application, reiterating that examination proceedings under the Patents Act cannot be bypassed merely because a pre-grant opposition is pending. In a judgment delivered on February 27, Justice Arif S. Doctor held that the Controller acted “plainly arbitrary, unexplained, and contrary to the statutory scheme of the Act and the Rules framed thereunder” by cancelling a scheduled examination hearing, assuring the applicant that...
Delhi High Court Upholds Rejection Of Crystal Crop's Herbicidal Composition Patent
The Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Crystal Crop Protection Ltd., upholding a decision by the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs to reject a patent application for a herbicidal composition designed for field crops.Justice Tejas Karia upheld the Assistant Controller's finding that the proposed invention lacked an inventive step and fell under the statutory bar of Section 3(e) of the Patents Act, as it constituted a 'mere admixture' of known substances. The Court held...
Patent Revocation Petition Survives Even If Patent Expires By Efflux Of Time: Delhi High Court
Holding that revocation operates retrospectively and in rem, the Delhi High Court has ruled that expiry of a patent does not render a pending revocation petition infructuous. A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla on Tuesday held “a revocation petition would be maintainable, and would continue to survive, even after the patent of which revocation is sought expires by efflux of time"The court further clarified that once revoked, the patent is “rendered...
Delhi High Court Imposes ₹50,000 Costs On Patent Owner For “Unnecessary Litigation”
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to allow Pawan Kumar Goel to withdraw his patent infringement suit over a patented process for extracting Alpha Yohimbine, a plant-derived compound used in dietary supplements, and imposed costs of Rs. 50,000 for “unnecessary litigation.” Justice Tushar Rao Gedela declined Goel's request under Order XXIII Rule (1)(3)(b) of the Code of Civil Procedure seeking permission to withdraw the suit with liberty to institute a fresh suit on the same cause of...
Madras High Court Warns Against Mechanical Notices, Orders Decision On 14-Year-Old Cancer Drug Patent
The Madras High Court on 12 February observed that the Intellectual Property Office cannot mechanically issue notices or summons whenever pre-grant patent oppositions are received, warning that such an approach makes it “very easy to defeat the rights” of patent applicants. Justice N. Anand Venkatesh issued directions in a case involving a 14-year-old patent application filed by Merck Sharp & Dohme B.V. for a cancer drug. Noting that by “postponing the same for one reason and the other”...
Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Rejection Of UPL's Herbicide Patent For Denying Mandatory Hearing
The Calcutta High Court has recently set aside an order of the Controller of Patents rejecting UPL Limited's patent application for a herbicidal combination, holding that the authority committed a “serious procedural infirmity” by denying the company a mandatory hearing under Section 14 of the Patents Act and improperly issuing a composite order in examination and pre-grant opposition proceedings. Allowing the appeal, Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur ruled that examination proceedings under Sections...