PATENT

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...

Supreme Court Appoints Amicus Curiae In Patent Case Over Human-AI Integration Technology
The Supreme Court has appointed Senior Advocate Swathi Sukumar as Amicus Curiae in a patent case over an invention that claims to enhance human capabilities by integrating them with artificial intelligence (AI), creating what its inventor describes as a "Pan-Environment Super-Cyborg."The invention, titled "Necktie Persona-Extender/Environment-integrator and method for Super-Augmenting a Persona to Manifest a Pan-Environment Super-Cyborg,"A bench of Justice K.V. Viswanathan and Justice Alok...

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...
