HP High Court: SBB cannot levy access & benefit-sharing fees
In a recent case, Hygienic Research Institute Private Limited v H.P. State Biodiversity Board and others, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh (Court) held that Indian entities covered under Section 7 of the are not required to seek “prior approval” or to pay the Access and Benefit Sharing Fee (ABS) to the State Biodiversity Board (SBB) for...
Court Rules on Determining Diagnostic Criteria in Patent Applications
The Madras High Court, this year, ruled on the much-awaited cases pertaining to interpretation of the scope of patentability of diagnostic methods patentability under the Indian Patents Act, 1970 (Act). Section 3(i) of the Act prohibits the patenting of diagnostic methods aimed at treating diseases in humans or animals to make them...
IPO ends decade-long pre-grant opposition to Gilead’s Sofosbuvir prodrug
In a landmark case, Gilead Pharmasset, LLC v Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust and Ors., the Indian Patent Office (IPO) in Kolkata granted a patent to Gilead Pharmasset, LLC (Gilead), covering the prodrug molecule of anti-HCV drug Sofosbuvir. The IPO rejected all the 13 pre-grant oppositions, filed by various opponents including pharma companies,...
Delhi HC Weighs in on VE Commercial vs. Jaswant Industries Dispute
In the case of VE Commercial Vehicles Limited v Jaswant Industries & Ors, the Delhi High Court granted the injunction restraining Jaswant Industries & Ors (Jaswant Industries and two travel companies collectively known as Defendants) from dealing with the buses infringing design registrations of VE Commercial Vehicles Limited (VE...
Asserting Patent Infringement with the help of Doctrine of Equivalence
The overarching issue in SNPC Machines Private Limited & Ors. v. Mr. Vishal Choudhary revolves around the application of the doctrine of equivalents to determine patent infringement, focusing on whether functional similarities between two competing brick-making machines constitute a violation of patent rights, despite differences in their...
Delhi High Court Restricts Sale of Refurbished Goods for ‘Reverse Passing-Off
Reverse passing off is not something that courts encounter every day. It occurs when a defendant purchases a plaintiff’s product, repackages, and sells it under the defendant’s mark or name, resulting in the public coming to associate the qualities of the plaintiff’s product with that of the defendant.
When this adversely...
Philips Secures Significant Victory in Patent Dispute With Indian DVD Makers in Delhi HC
In a significant decision by the Delhi High Court in February 2025 reinforcing the enforcement of standard essential patents (SEPs) in India, Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Philips) recently won a protracted legal battle against three Indian digital versatile disc (DVD) manufacturers – Pearl Engineering Company, Powercube Infotech, and...
IPO ends decade-long pre-grant opposition to Gilead’s Sofosbuvir prodrug
In a landmark case, Gilead Pharmasset, LLC v Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust and Ors., the Indian Patent Office (IPO) in Kolkata granted a patent to Gilead Pharmasset, LLC (Gilead), covering the prodrug molecule of anti-HCV drug Sofosbuvir. The IPO rejected all the 13 pre-grant oppositions, filed by various opponents including pharma companies,...
Court Rules Data Privacy Prevails Over Business Methods in E-Commerce
In a pivotal decision, in the case Priya Randolph v the Deputy Controller of Patents and Designs, the Madras High Court has significantly impacted the criterion of patentable inventions in India, safeguarding a privacy-focused technology amidst e-commerce giants.
Priya Randolph and Rohit Chaturvedi (inventors) sought patent protection for...
Patentability of Synergistic Combinations Yielding New and Improved Results
In a notable ruling in the case, Biomoneta Research Pvt ltd. v Controller General of Patents Designs, the Delhi High Court (Court) resolved an appeal by Biomoneta Research Pvt. Ltd. (Biomoenta) against the Controller General of Patents and Designs’ (Controller) rejection of their 2017 patent application for an ‘Air Decontamination...