Tag: Delhi High Court

Patents are granted for inventions that are novel and involve an inventive step. Any information or material that is publicly available or published before the filing of a patent application is known as “prior art” and this forms the basis on which novelty and inventive step is determined. ......

Inventions that fall within, or overlap with, disclosures in the prior art are called “selection inventions”. Generally, selection inventions involve the selection of one or more specific embodiments, such as individual elements, subsets, or sub-ranges, within a larger known set or range disclosed in the prior art. This raises critical questions around how the novelty and inventive step of selection patents should be judged. ......

The Delhi High Court in the case of Larsen & Toubro Limited vs. Punjab National Bank recently pronounced an important judgement clarifying the duration of a claim period in a bank guarantee. The issues raised in this case pertain to the scope of Section 28 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 ("Act"). ......

As intellectual property disputes grow in number in India, corresponding questions arise regarding the most appropriate adjudicating authority to be approached for redress. Besides regular courts, IP disputes also occasionally make their way into arbitrations. But the circumstances under which IP disputes can be referred to arbitration are not always clear. ......

An anti-suit injunction is an order by the court which restricts a party from filing or continuing with proceedings in another court, including foreign courts, with regard to the subject matter of the suit. When courts are approached by a party seeking an anti-suit injunction, they generally establish a ‘forum conveniens’, i.e., determine the most appropriate forum to decide upon the dispute. ......

Licensing and franchising intellectual property (IP) offer strategic competitive advantages to a brand. Franchising is a situation where a franchisor controls and supervises the exploitation of a trademark while allowing the use of the tradename, the get up and the reputation and goodwill associated with the trademark. ......

There are several ways in which evidence can be gathered in intellectual property (IP) suits, including through discoveries and cross examinations. Discovery takes place pre-trial, where parties can exchange information regarding the evidence and witnesses to be presented to the court. ......

Applying for a patent is a race against time to secure the earliest priority date (i.e., the date of the first filing of a patent application). As a result, patent applications are often filed with accompanying data that do not always capture all the facets of the invention. In such cases, using post-filing data to support the applications is often the only course available. ......

Can “any person” oppose a patent application before it is granted? Or must persons now provide their credentials before filing oppositions? Are there circumstances when such oppositions cannot be entertained? The Bombay High Court was faced with questions like these in the recent case of Dhaval Diyora vs. Union of India (WP(L) 3718/2020; 05 November 2020). ......