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High Court Of Delhi
NATIONAL RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF INDIA - Appellant
Versus
DELHI CLOTH AND GENERAL MILLS COMPANY LIMITED - Respondent
Interim Application 1953 of 1979
Decided On : 10/31/1979
PATENT INFRINGEMENT - TEMPORARY INJUNCTION - VALIDITY OF PATENT - ASSIGNMENT OF PATENT - LOCUS STANDI OF ASSIGNEE - BALANCE OF CONVENIENCE - IRREPARABLE LOSS - ESTOPPEL - ADMISSION OF VALIDITY - PATENT ACT, 1970, SS. 2(P), 48, 68, 69.
Fact of the Case:
The plaintiff, National Research Development Corporation of India, filed a suit for permanent injunction, rendition of accounts, and damages against the defendants for infringing its Patent No. 138571, relating to Titanium Substrate Insoluble Anode Assembly for Diaphragm Type Chloralkali Cells (TSIA). The plaintiff alleged that it was the assignee of the patent and had exclusive rights to use, sell, and manufacture the anode assembly. The defendants denied infringement and challenged the validity of the patent, claiming they had developed their own technology and were not using the plaintiff's patented process.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the plaintiff had locus standi to institute the suit as the assignee of the patent, as the Assignment Deed was registered under Section 68 of the Patents Act, 1970, and the title of the plaintiff was registered under Section 69 of the Act. The court also found that the patent was prima facie valid, as it had been granted after a thorough examination by the Patent Office and had not been challenged before the Patent Office. The court further held that the defendants had infringed the plaintiff's patent, as there was no substantial difference between the defendants' process and the patented process.
Issues: 1. Whether the plaintiff had locus standi to institute the suit as the assignee of the patent. 2. Whether the patent was valid. 3. Whether the defendants had infringed the plaintiff's patent.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the plaintiff had locus standi to institute the suit as the assignee of the patent, as the Assignment Deed was registered under Section 68 of the Patents Act, 1970, and the title of the plaintiff was registered under Section 69 of the Act. The court relied on the fact that Section 68 of the Act makes the registration of the Assignment Deed effective from the date of the execution of the deed after its registration, and that the assignee acquires all rights under the Patent in terms of the Assignment Deed on the date when the deed is executed. 2. The court held that the patent was prima facie valid, as it had been granted after a thorough examination by the Patent Office and had not been challenged before the Patent Office. The court also noted that the patent was more than six years old and had been worked, which raised a presumption of validity. 3. The court held that the defendants had infringed the plaintiff's patent, as there was no substantial difference between the defendants' process and the patented process. The court relied on the fact that the defendants had not filed any objections to the patent before the Patent Office, had admitted the validity of the patent in correspondence with the plaintiff, and had sought a license from the plaintiff to use the patented process.
Final Decision: The court granted a temporary injunction restraining the defendants from infringing the plaintiff's patent, holding that the plaintiff had locus standi to institute the suit, the patent was prima facie valid, the defendants had infringed the patent, and the balance of convenience was in favor of granting the injunction.
( 1 ) THE plaintiff s application (I. A. No. 1915 of 1979) under O. 39, Rr. 1 and 2 and S. 151 of the Civil P. C. is for the issue of a temporary injunction restraining the defendants from infringing the plaintiff s Patent No. 138571 dated 26th November, 1973 in a suit for permanent injunction, rendition of accounts and damages. The plaintiff M/s. National Research Development Corporation of India alleges that it is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1913, that it is the proprietor/assignee of the said Patent No. 138571 relating of Titanium Substrate Insoluble Anode Assembly for Diaphragm Type Chloralkali Cells (hereinafter referred as tsia ) that the invention of the said patent was developed by certain inventors of Central Electro-Chemical Research Institute, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu (hereinafter referred to as cecri ) an institute of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, (hereinafter referred to as csir ) that the said patent was originally granted in favour of CSIR, New Delhi who assigned the same to the plaintiff vide Assignment Deed dated 22nd May, 1979 for further development and exploitation of the patent process in accordance with a previous agreement dated 27th November, 1956 between the CSIR and the plaintiff. The invention is defined in claim Nos. 1 and 3 of patent No. 138571 as follows:
"1. A process for the preparation of an Anode Assembly for Diaphragm Cells in the electrolysis of alkali metal halide solutions which consists in (i) providing valve metal anode base of a valve metal or an alloy of valve metals such as titanium, zirconium, niobium, tantialum, tungsten especially titanium which are resistant to corrosion in aqueous electrolytes especially in the eletrolysis of saturated brine to chlorine-alkali in diaphragm cells in the form of strips, perforated sheet or expanded sheets, shaped cylindrical, U bend or rectangular, the surface of the base or rectangular, the base metal being activated by hermally depositing a platinum group metal or a mixed oxide of the platinum group metals and valve metals, and 2. Welding titanium or such other valve metal clad copper or aluminium current distributors to the anode base to distribute the current uniformly to the entire base. 3. An anode assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein the current distributors consist of copper or aluminium core tigatly enclosed in a copper coated sleeve of titanium or other valve metals by means of white metal composition. "the advantages and the process of preparation of anode assemblies have been fully described in the patent specification, and it is not necessary to enumerate the same here. The plaintiff further alleges that the said patent is valid, subsisting and in force for a period of 14 years from the date of patent, that under S. 48 of the Patents Act, 1970 (hereinafter called the Act ), the plaintiff has exclusive right in the sale, use and manufacture of the anode assembly claimed in the said patent, that the said patent is being worked by the plaintiff s licensee, namely. Titanium Equipment and Anode Manufacturing Co. Ltd. , Madras, that the defendants were fully aware of the existence of the said Patent No. 138571, as tests on the anode assembly of this patent and also anodes prepared by the process of plaintiff s another Patent No. 134375 were conducted by the defendants on behalf of CECRI, Karaikudi, that the defendants were in correspondence with the plaintiff for obtaining a licence for the manufacture and use of the anode assembly of the present patent and the anode manufactured by the process of Patent No. 134375, that in April, 1979 the plaintiffeame to know that , the defendants have manufactured anode assemblies which are being used by them and that the said anode assemblies of the defendants were constructed according to patent in suit, that the plaintiff served notice dated 25th May, 1979 on the defendants which was not replied by them, that the anode assembly manufactured and used by
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