'Tragic Picture Of IP Rights Ecosystem': Bombay High Court Rules Scientist, Not IIT Bombay, Owns Invention After 13-Year Battle

Observing that prolonged proceedings over a patent application had cost a scientist 13 years out of the 20-year statutory patent protection period, the Bombay High Court has recognised him as the sole owner of the invention and directed that his patent application be considered on merits. Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan was dealing with a petition filed by Dr. Tarkeshwar Chandrakant Patil, an original inventor named in the patent application filed by IIT Bombay for an invention titled “An...

Delhi High Court Revives Patent Bid For Improved Process To Make Drug Used To Reverse Muscle Relaxation

The Delhi High Court has set aside the Patent Office's decision refusing a patent application for an improved process to prepare sugammadex, a drug used to reverse the effects of certain muscle relaxants administered during surgery. The court found that the applicant was denied a mandatory opportunity of hearing before the refusal.Justice Jyoti Singh observed that hearings held during the pre-grant opposition proceedings could not replace the separate hearing required before the application was...

Supreme Court Stays Swiss Company's Patent Suit Against Techfab Before Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 1 September stayed further proceedings before the Himachal Pradesh High Court in a patent infringement suit filed by Swiss company Geobrugg AG against Techfab (India) Industries Ltd. over the manufacture and sale of high-tensile wire mesh products sold under the “TECCO” brand. A Bench of Justices K.V. Viswanathan and Arun Palli issued notice returnable on 2 November and directed the parties to complete their pleadings in the meantime. During the hearing, the judges...

Delhi High Court Directs BDR To Seek Prior Approval Before 'Dabrafenib' Launch In Novartis Patent Suit

The Delhi High Court on 17 August directed BDR Pharmaceuticals International Private Limited to seek the Court's prior approval before taking any steps towards commercial manufacture or launch of Dabrafenib, in a patent infringement dispute brought by Novartis AG. Justice A. J. Bhambhani passed the direction while hearing Novartis' interim injunction application in a quia timet action, which seeks to prevent an apprehended patent infringement before it occurs. The Bench directed that "before...

Delhi High Court Directs Sun Pharma To Seek Prior Approval Before Launching Semaglutide Tablets

The Delhi High Court on 11 August directed Sun Pharma Laboratories Limited to seek prior approval from the Court before commercially manufacturing or launching its Semaglutide Tablets, in a patent infringement suit filed by Novo Nordisk A/S. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani did not grant an interim injunction at this stage, but observed: “As and when a manufacturing license is granted to the defendant for the manufacture of Semaglutide Tablets, before taking any steps towards commercial...

Delhi High Court Upholds Rejection Of Esteve Pharma's Tramadol-Celecoxib Co-Crystal Patent

The Delhi High Court on 7 August dismissed an appeal filed by Esteve Pharmaceuticals S.A. against the rejection of its patent application for a co-crystal of tramadol and coxibs. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela held that the claimed invention lacked inventive step under Section 2(1)(ja) of the Patents Act, 1970, as the prior art documents, when read together, rendered the invention obvious. He held: “Therefore, reading of the prior art…which discloses the combination of tramadol and celecoxib as a...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Order Rejecting Patent For Carbon Dioxide Capture Device

The Delhi High Court has set aside an order of the Assistant Controller of Patents rejecting Enviro Ambient Corporation's patent application for a carbon dioxide capture device, finding the rejection “unreasoned and non-speaking.”Justice Jyoti Singh observed that a substantial part of the impugned order was devoted to extracting objections raised in the First Examination Report (FER) and referring to prior arts, without properly analysing Enviro's case. “Regrettably, none of these issues even...

Delhi High Court Frames Guidelines To Distinguish 'Mental Acts' From Patentable Inventions

The Delhi High Court has proposed a set of guidelines designed to help patent examiners differentiate between abstract human thought and genuine technical innovations.A bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on August 4, 2026 clarified when a method should be considered a "mental act," which cannot be patented under Indian law and when it constitutes a technical implementation, that deserves protection under the Patents Act, 1970. The decision followed an appeal by T-Mobile International against the...

Karnataka High Court Quashes Temporary Injunction Against Areca Nut Dehusking Machine Maker In Patent Suit

The Karnataka High court has set aside an ex parte ad interim injunction that had barred Priya Industries from making or selling an areca nut dehusking machine allegedly infringing a patent held by V-Tech Engineers.The court found that the Commercial Court had granted the injunction without analysing either the patent claims or whether Priya Industries' machine actually infringed them."We find that the impugned order is not sustainable, as it does not clearly set out the reasons for arriving at...

Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains Aurore Life Sciences From Manufacturing, Selling Ruxolitinib In Patent Suit

The Delhi High Court has temporarily restrained Aurore Life Sciences Pvt Ltd from using, manufacturing, stockpiling, importing, offering for sale, selling, or exporting pharmaceutical products containing Ruxolitinib, a prescription drug used to treat myelofibrosis, a form of bone marrow cancer, in a patent infringement suit filed by Incyte Holdings Corporation and two others.Justice Jyoti Singh passed the ex-parte ad interim injunction after holding that the patent holders had made out a prima...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Refusal Of Patent For Cancer Drug Combination, Orders Fresh Review

The Delhi High Court has set aside the refusal of a US company's patent application for a pharmaceutical combination used to treat proliferative diseases, including colorectal cancer.Holding that the Deputy Controller's findings on inventive step and patentability under Sections 3(d) and 3(i) of the Patents Act could not be sustained, the court remanded the matter for fresh consideration. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela rejected the objection under Section 3(i), observing, "It is clear that claim 1...

Madras High Court Sets Aside Rejection of US Company's Patent For Pet Appetite Drug

The Madras High Court has set aside the Patent Office's rejection of Elanco US Inc.'s patent application for an oral pharmaceutical composition for treating chronic inappetence and chronic weight loss in companion animals and remanded the matter for fresh consideration.Justice K. Kumaresh Babu observed that while the Controller's order concluded that the claimed invention was substantially the same as an earlier invention, the analysis in the same order recorded that the invention differed...