Infringement of patent established; interim injunction granted to prevent public harm.

JUDGMENT :

MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA, J.

I.A. 19322/2025(under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of CPC)

1. The captioned application under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 [‘CPC’], has been filed by the Plaintiffs seeking ad-interim injunction against the Defendants, thereby restraining the Defendants from making, using, offering for sale, selling, distributing, advertising, marketing, exporting, importing or in any manner, directly or indirectly, the product ‘FERROTOK PLUS’ and/or the composition as claimed in the suit patent i.e., IN 382949 and/or any other ad-mixture/ combination/ formulation products containing the composition as claimed in the suit patent, during the subsistence of the suit patent.

2. Issue notice.

3. Mr. Santosh Kumar, Advocate accepts notice on behalf of Defendant Nos. 1, 3 and 4 and waives off formal service of notice.

4. The present suit concerns infringement of Indian Patent No. 382949 titled “A Pharmaceutical Composition for Anaemia” [‘Suit Patent’] as well as copyright of Plaintiff No. 2’s website [‘Suit Copyright’].

CASE SETUP BY THE PLAINTIFF IN THE PLAINT

5. Mr. Dayan Krishnan, learned senior counsel for Plaintiffs, has presented the following facts and contentions: -

5.1 Plaintiff No. 1 is a company engaged in, inter alia, the manufacturing and sale of medicines as well as health supplements. Plaintiff No. 1 is the wholly owned subsidiary of the parent i.e., Plaintiff No. 2 herein. Plaintiffs have large number of marketed products and large patent portfolio, currently 402 patent applications globally.

5.2 The Suit Patent is owned by Plaintiff No. 1 and the same is licensed to Plaintiff No. 2 vide license agreement dated 20.12.2017. The Plaintiffs jointly and separately manufacture and market various products covering the Suit Patent.

5.3 The Plaintiff No. 1 filed Suit Patent - IN 382949 [hereinafter referred to as IN’949] titled “A Pharmaceutical Composition for Anaemia” on 09.03.2018 and the Suit Patent was granted to Plaintiff No. 1 on 29.11.2021. The twenty-year [20] term of the Suit Patent is set to expire on 09.03.2038. The bibliographic details of the said Suit Patent are as follows: -

5.4 The Suit Patent discloses and claims a pharmaceutical composition, which is a synergistic combination of ‘Lactoferrin’ [‘LF’] and one or more ‘Guanosine Nucleotide’ or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof for the treatment of Iron deficiency Anaemia [‘IDA’], Anaemia of Inflammation [‘AOI’] and Neuro-degenerative disorders.

5.5 The Suit Patent comprises 15 granted claims, where Claim 1 is for a pharmaceutical composition and Claims 2-15 are dependent on Claim 1. Claim 14 discloses the process for preparation of composition, as claimed in Claim 1.

5.6 Purpose of the Suit Patent, which is a formulation with natural ingredients, is not limited to reducing the side effects caused by the iron supplements but to also maintain Iron homeostasis by hepcidin regulation and hence, will provide a natural treatment for IDA and AOI.

5.7 In line of the mandate of Section 83 of the Patents Act, 1970 [‘Act of 1970’], the Plaintiffs have commercialised the product claimed via the Suit Patent since June of 2018. The Plaintiff’s first commercial product was launched in June, 2018 incorporating the claimed subject matter of IN’949 under the brand name FERRONOMIC. The FERRONOMIC contains 100 mg Lactoferrin and 10 mg of Disodium Guanosine 5-Monophosphate.

5.8 Further, the Plaintiffs have developed various products incorporating the claimed subject matter of IN’949. The product FERRONEMIA PLUS sold by the