Functionality Test Adapted by the Commercial Court for Distinguishing Copyright Protections from Design Registrations
In the matter of Cryogas Equipment Private Limited and LNG Express India Private Limited v. Inox India Limited and Others, the Commercial Court of Vadodara, Gujarat, applied a two-pronged approach to determine whether a work is qualified to be registered under the Copyright Act or the Designs Act based on the directions from the Supreme Court of...
A quasi-judicial order must speak for itself- Calcutta High Court
In Stromag Gmbh vs The Controller General of Patents, the Calcutta High Court (Court)set aside the order rejecting the patent application of Stromag Gmbh (Stromag) passed by The Controller General of Patents (Controller) for failing to explain how the prior art rendered the invention obvious. The Court also highlighted that a quasi-judicial order...
Delhi High Court Confirms Defendant Bears Burden to Prove Patent Invalidity
In the matter of Moldtek Packaging Ltd. v. Pronton Plast Pack Pvt. Ltd., the Delhi High Court reaffirmed the important principles relating to burden of proof standards in patent infringement analysis and clarified that the defendant bears the burden to prove patent invalidity in such matters.
Moldtek Packaging Ltd....
Interim relief to Largan Precision by Delhi HC in Smartphone Camera Technology Patent Dispute
In Largan Precision Co., Ltd v. Honor Device Co., Ltd & Anr., the Delhi High Court granted an ex-parte ad interim injunction in favour of the plaintiff, Largan Precision Co., Ltd (Largan), a Taiwanese company against Honor Device Co., Ltd (Honor), a Chinese company, and its Indian subsidiary.
Largan had filed...
Delhi High Court reaffirms the non-patentability of algorithms that lack technical effect
In Kroll Information Assurance, LLC v The Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks and Ors, the Delhi High Court reaffirmed that an invention using conventional and generic computers to implement a computer program to perform searches based on sequence of instructions given by a user is abstract, lacks any technical character, and...
Calcutta HC Remands Patent Rejection Over Section 3(b) of the Patents Act and Procedural Fairness
This breaks down the ITC Ltd. v Controller of Patents judgement. The Calcutta High Court held that a patent cannot be denied under Section 3(b) on morality or public health grounds without clear scientific or technical evidence. It found that the Controller wrongly presumed the invention—a device for generating and delivery of a Nicotine...
Enforcement of Design Rights in Electrical Switches: A Delhi Commercial Court Ruling
Sandesh Sastry analyzes the recent design infringement case, Devender Kumar Jain & Ors. v. Solanki Industries Pvt. Ltd. where the Delhi Commercial Court issued a permanent injunction and awarded damages for design infringement. Sandesh’s case note offers insight into how Indian courts are approaching damages, injunctive relief, and the...
Delhi HC clarifies patent validity and draws clear line between technical function and aesthetic design
On May 19, 2025, the Delhi High Court delivered a landmark judgment in the case of Dura-Line India Pvt. Ltd. v Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., decisively addressing the scope of patent protection, validity, and enforcement under the Indian Patents Act, 1970.
Dura-Line India Pvt. Ltd. (Dura-line) had sued Jain...
Delhi HC Clarifies the Threshold of Section 3(d): Enhanced Efficacy & Procedural Fairness in Patent
Dr Jyoti Choithani Ramani analyses Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. v. Controller of Patents & Anr., where the Delhi High Court set aside the rejection of Taiho’s patent. The Court clarified that for a valid Section 3(d) objection, the Patent Office must identify the ‘known substance with known efficacy’, explain how the claimed compound is a...
Delhi HC: Offering copyrighted work on unfair terms amounts to refusal by owner
In Al-Hamd Tradenation v Phonographic Performance Limited, the Delhi High Court, while addressing the issue of compulsory licensing under Section 31 of the Copyright Act, 1957, underscored that balance needs to be struck between copyright owners’ rights and public access to the copyrighted works.
Section 31...