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2022 Supreme(Del) 1914
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Prathiba M. Singh, J.
Sterlite Technologies Limited - Appellant
Versus
Hfcl Limited - Respondent
CS (Comm) 19 of 2022, I.A. 504 of 2022 & I.A.1334 of 2022
Decided On : 14-09-2022
Mr. Chander Lall, Sr. Advocate. with & Mr. Ankit Arvind, Advocates., for the Plaintiff; Mr. Amit Sibal, Sr. Advocate, Ms. Apoorva Murali, Ms. Aashish Gupta, Mr. Shantanu Tyagi, Mr. Saksham Dhingra, Mr. Krishna Tangirala, Mr. Luma Abbas & Mr. Ayush Shahay Advocates., for the Defendant
Headnote:(A) Patents Act, 1970 - Sections 25 and 64 - Patent infringement - Suit for injunction against the Defendant for violating Indian Patent No. IN335369 related to optical fiber cables (OFCs) - The Plaintiff claims exclusivity based on having developed novel features that enhance tensile strength and reduce weight of OFCs. (Paras 1-3)
(B) Key points of law related to novelty and inventive step in patents emphasized - The number of optical fibers specified in the patent claims is pivotal for infringement analysis. It is asserted as illustrative rather than limiting. (Paras 5.1, 5.3, 30)
(C) The Court described the alleged infringing OFC products and assessed prior art to determine validity of the Plaintiff's patent. The Court finds overlapping features between the contested patent and prior art documents. (Paras 20-33)
Facts of the case:
The Plaintiff, a leading telecom solutions provider, claimed infringement by the Defendant's OFCs, which allegedly contained similar features to the Plaintiff's patented OFC design. An interim injunction was granted previously but challenged by the Defendant with counterclaims for patent revocation. (Paras 1-4)
Findings of Court:
The Plaintiff's patent face validity issues, raising serious doubts about its novelty and inventive step based on prior art analysis. The injunction is deemed vacated based on these considerations. (Paras 28-37)
Issues: The main issues involved determining infringement based on the specific claim of '16 optical fibers' and whether prior art documents would negate the novelty of the patent. (Paras 20-30)
Ratio Decidendi: The Court underscored the necessity for distinct claims in determining patent validity, ruling that the closeness of the Defendant's product features to the prior art raises critical questions about the patent's legitimacy. (Paras 28-30)
Result: The ex parte injunction granted on January 12, 2022, is vacated. (Paras 36-37)
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. overview of plaintiff's patent and case. (Para 1 , 2 , 3) |
| 2. arguments on patent validity and infringement. (Para 5 , 6) |
| 3. clarification on optical fiber technology. (Para 9 , 18) |
| 4. analysis of prior art and invalidity. (Para 20 , 26) |
| 5. conclusions on the ex parte injunction. (Para 30 , 35) |
JUDGMENT
Prathiba M. Singh, J. - Brief Facts
1. The present is a suit filed by the Plaintiff- Sterlite Technologies Ltd. - seeking inter alia, an injunction restraining infringement of Indian Patent No. IN335369 (hereinafter 'IN'69/suit patent') which relates to optical fiber cables (hereinafter 'OFCs'). The Plaintiff claims to be an industry leading integrator of digital networks providing integrated 5G ready end to end solutions ranging from wired to wireless, design to deployment connectivity to compute through core capabilities in Optical Interconnect, Virtualised Access Solutions, Network Software and System Integration. The Plaintiff company was established in the year 1988 as a copper cable manufacturing unit and thereafter in 1993 developed optical fiber manufacturing capabilities. The Plaintiff avers that it is engaged in the business of telecom products and solutions, including manufacture and sale of integrated optical fibers and OFCs and also provides cloud computing services. As per the plaint, the Plaintiff has manufacturing facilities in India, China, and Brazil, and software development centers in India and U.K. The Plaintiff's revenue as of the financial year 2020, is stated to be around Rs. 41,420 million, with offices in 16 countries and 7 global production facilities. The detailed profile of the Plaintiff has been set out in the plaint.
2. The suit patent titled 'OPTICAL FIBER CABLE FOR BLOWING INTO DUCT', has a priority date of 29th March, 2016 and was granted on 20th March, 2020 with the following Claims:
'1. An optical fiber cable (100) comprising: one or more sleeve stranded around a central strength member (102), wherein each of the one or more sleeve encloses 16 optical fibers, wherein each of the optical fibers has a diameter of about 250 microns; a layer (l08) surrounding the one or more sleeve, wherein the one or more sleeve comprises one or more optical fiber, wherein the layer (108) is one or more strengthening layer acting as a binding element for the one or more optical fiber; and an outer sheath enclosing the layer (l08), wherein the optical fiber cable (100) has a nominal weight in a range of 2 kg/km and 250 kg/km and a nominal diameter in a range of 1.5 mm and 20 mm.
2. The optical fiber cable (100) as claimed in claim 1, comprising one or more central strength member (102) lying substantially along a longitudinal axis of the optical fiber cable (100), wherein the one or more central strength member (l02) has a diameter in a range of 0.5 mm to 6mm.
3. The optical fiber cable (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the layer (108) is a binder yarn, and yarn thread, and wherein the layer (108) is made of polyester, aramid, polypropylene and a water blocking material, wherein said layer (108) facilitates absorption of water and moisture in the optical fiber cable (100).
4. The optical fiber cable (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a tensile strength of the optical fiber cable (100) in a range of 10 N to 2000N.
5. The optical fiber cable (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a number of fibers in the optical fiber cable (100) is up to 288.
6. The optical fiber cable (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer sheath is made of polyamides, polyethylene, polypropylene and Nylon, Low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) and Fire-Resistant Polyethylene (FRPE).
7. The optical fiber cable (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more optical fibers and the one or more sleeves are colored.
8. The optical fiber cable (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the one or more central strength member is made of one of
