Bioreactor Invention Involving Human Embryonic Stem Cells Not Patentable: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has upheld the Patent Office's refusal to grant a patent to US-based biotechnology company Viacyte Inc., holding that the claimed bioreactor invention was primarily directed at biological material, including human embryonic stem cell-derived aggregates and therefore fell within non-patentable subject matter under the Patents Act, 1970.In a judgment dated January 16, 2026, a Single-Judge Bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur, affirming the decision of the Deputy Controller...

Patent Opposition Board Recommendations Are Advisory, Not Binding Decision: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has refused to step in midway in a patent dispute over a cancer drug, holding that a recommendation made by the Opposition Board during post-grant opposition proceedings is only advisory and does not create anu valid binding rights. Dismissing the writ petition filed by two foreign pharma firms, Justice N. Senthilkumar said the patent holders must place all their objections before the Controller of Patents, who alone takes the final call.The court was hearing a...

Madras High Court Upholds Grant Of Virtual Agent Patent To US Company, Dismisses Flipkart's Challenge

The Madras High Court on Monday refused to interfere with the Patent Office's rejection of Flipkart's post-grant opposition, allowing a US company's patent on virtual agents used in online customer interactions to continue.In an order dated January 5, 2026, Justice N. Senthilkumar refused to interfere with the decision of the Patent Office, which had dismissed Flipkart's post-grant opposition and allowed the patent titled “Systems and Methods for Virtual Agents to Help Customers and Business” to...

Delhi High Court Lifts Injunction, Allows Zydus To Manufacture And Market Lifesaving Cancer Drug

The Delhi High Court on Monday cleared Zydus Lifesciences Limited to manufacture and market its cancer drug ZRC 3276. The court set aside an injunction that had barred the drug's launch over alleged patent infringement of a medicine owned by US-based pharmaceutical major E.R. Squibb. A Division Bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla modified an earlier order passed by a single judge. The Bench held that Zydus could not be restrained from launching a life-saving...

Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Patent Office Order Rejecting US Company's Glass Fibre Patent

The Calcutta High Court has set aside a Patent Office order rejecting a patent application filed by OCV Intellectual Capital LLC, a subsidiary of Owens Corning. The court held that the refusal was passed without proper analysis of novelty and inventive step. A single-judge bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur, in a judgment dated January 6, 2026, held that the Patent Office rejected the application without engaging with the technical submissions made by the company or recording clear reasons...

Madras High Court Allows US Inventor's Late Patent Examination Request Despite Indian Agent's Error

The Madras High Court has directed the Indian Patent Office to accept and process a request for examination filed by a US-based inventor, holding that a patent application cannot be treated as abandoned due to an inadvertent mistake by a patent agent. The court ruled that in the absence of any intention to give up the invention, such procedural lapses should not defeat substantive rights. Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order on December 18, 2025, while disposing of a writ petition filed...

Delhi High Court Stays Order Against Indian Firm Making Irrigation Valves In Patent Dispute With Israel Company

The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed an order that had restrained an Indian irrigation equipment maker from selling its “Hydromat Valve”, which was earlier held to prima facie infringe a patent owned by an Israel-based company. A Division Bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla pronounced the judgment on January 5, 2026, while deciding an appeal filed by Automat Irrigation.Staying the earlier order dated August 1, 2025 on a interim plea filed by Aquestia Limited, the...

Delhi High Court Stays Over ₹20 Crore Decrees In Favour Of Philips In DVD Patent Dispute

The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed the execution of money decrees worth over Rs 20 crore passed in favour of Koninklijke Philips N.V., the Netherlands-based electronics company widely known as Philips. The stay is subject to the judgment debtors furnishing unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantees covering the principal amounts of damages. A Division Bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla said it found no fault with the Single Judge's conclusions on patent...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Patent Office Order Rejecting Emitec Emissions Dosing Device

The Delhi High Court has set aside a Patent Office order rejecting a patent application filed by Emitec Gesellschaft für Emissionstechnologie mbH, a Germany-based automotive emissions firm, for a reducing-agent dosing device that helps cut vehicle pollution.A single-judge bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, in a judgment pronounced on December 24, 2025, held that the Patent Office rejected the application without following the mandatory five-step test for examining inventive step laid...

Delhi High Court Upholds Order Rejecting Ericsson's Data Security Invention Patent

The Delhi High Court has upheld a 2019 order of the Patent Office rejecting a patent application filed by Swedish telecom major Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson for a data security invention. The court held that the claimed method did not involve an inventive step and was obvious in light of existing technology. Dismissing Ericsson's appeal, the court said there was no reason to interfere with the findings of the Patent Office. In a judgment dated December 24, 2025, a single-judge Bench of...

Delhi High Court Rejects Zydus Plea Against Helsinn's Nausea Medication Patent

The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with the grant of a pharmaceutical patent for a nausea medication dismissing a challenge by Zydus Healthcare Ltd. against Swiss drugmaker Helsinn Healthcare SA The court held that the Patent Office committed no jurisdictional error and did not violate principles of natural justice while granting the patent. In a judgment dated December 24, 2025, Justice Tejas Karia clarified that a pre-grant opposition and the examination of a patent application...

Employment Agreement Is Valid Proof of Right: Delhi High Court Sets Aside Patent Rejection After Inventor's Death

The Delhi High Court has set aside a Patent Office order that refused a patent application filed by Nippon Steel Corporation for a “high-strength steel sheet and its manufacturing method.” The court held that the Patent Office wrongly rejected the application on the ground that Nippon Steel had failed to establish “proof of right.” It also found fault with the Patent Office's view that an employment agreement could not serve as valid proof of such a right.Proof of right refers to documents...