In May, in an appeal made by Decco Worldwide Post Harvest Holdings B.V & Anr (Decco), the Calcutta High Court criticized a rejection order issued by the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs (Controller). Decco had applied for an Indian patent for an invention of a fungicidal treatment method to prevent leaf disease that infects banana plants.
The Court took note of the lack of reasoning by the Controller and their failure to appreciate the facts presented by the Decco. Specifically, the Court was perplexed and questioned the Controller’s lack of clear explanation for categorizing the invention, a fungicidal treatment method, as a non-patentable subject matter under section 3(h) of the Act since it deals with the patentability of methods of agriculture and horticulture, not plant treatment methods.