PATENT
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...
Supreme Court Allows Product-To-Claim Mapping In Nivolumab Patent Dispute Between ER Squibb and Zydus
The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of a special leave petition filed by E.R. Squibb and Sons LLC against Zydus Lifesciences Ltd in a patent dispute over the anti-cancer immunotherapy drug Nivolumab, arising from a January 12 judgment of the Delhi High Court's Division Bench.A Bench of the Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that since Zydus had already marketed its product and it was readily available in the market, the petitioners would be at liberty to undertake a...
Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Patent Office Order Rejecting TopoTarget's Cancer Drug Patent Application
The Calcutta High Court has set aside a Patent Office order rejecting a cancer drug patent filed by TopoTarget UK Limited, observing that the decision was taken without a proper and independent assessment of the invention.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur, in a judgment dated January 30, 2026, allowed TopoTarget's appeal and quashed an order dated November 29, 2019, passed by the Deputy Controller of Patents and Designs, Kolkata.The impugned order had rejected the patent...
Delhi High Court Upholds Injunction Over Mold-Tek's Tamper-Evident Packaging Patents
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld an interim injunction against Neway Industries over alleged infringement of Mold-Tek Packaging Limited's tamper-evident packaging patents and revived interim relief in respect of a second patent.A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla, in a judgment delivered on January 28, 2026, dismissed Neway's appeal challenging the grant of injunction over Mold-Tek's patent IN'417, while allowing Mold-Tek's appeal against the...
Delhi High Court Upholds Injunction Barring Canva's 'Present and Record' Feature In India
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld an interim injunction barring Canva from offering its “Present and Record” feature in India. Canva operates a widely used online graphic design and content creation platform. The court rejected the platform's appeal against the Single Judge's July 18, 2023, order passed in favour of RxPrism Health Systems Private LimitedA Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla pronounced the judgment on January 28, 2026, dismissing...
Delhi High Court Revives ITC's Challenge To Philip Morris's Non-Tobacco Nicotine Patent
The Delhi High Court has revived ITC Limited's challenge to a Philip Morris patent covering a non-tobacco nicotine product after setting aside a 2024 Patent Office order that had rejected ITC's opposition.In a judgment dated January 12, 2026, Justice Jyoti Singh allowed an appeal filed by ITC, holding that the impugned order suffered from a lack of independent application of mind and was largely a verbatim reproduction of the patentee's submissions and the recommendations of the Opposition...
Delhi High Court Sets Aside Rejection Of Comforter System Patent, Orders Fresh Review
The Delhi High Court has set aside a Patent Office order rejecting a patent application filed by Jesal Vimal Jetha for a therapeutic comforter system, holding that the refusal suffered from procedural infirmities and violation of principles of natural justice for non-consideration of applicant's responses to subsequent objections raised by Patent Office.Justice Tushar Rao Gedela delivered the judgment on January 23, 2026, while allowing an appeal against a 2020 order by which the Patent Office...