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2025 Supreme(Del) 667
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
SAURABH BANERJEE, J.
GSP CROP Science Ltd. – Plaintiff
Versus
BR Agrotech Limited And Anr. – Defendants
CS(COMM) 82 of 2023, I.A. 3231 of 2024
Decided On : 25-07-2025
Important Points
Subject
Intellectual Property - Patent Law
Act Referred
PATENTS ACT : S.25(1)
INSECTICIDES ACT : S.9(4)
Headnote
(B) Jurisdiction - Judgment on admissions under Order XII rule 6 of CPC permits a decree without trial when facts are unequivocally admitted by the other party. (Paras 1, 26, 33)
For the Plaintiff : Mr. G. Nataraj, Mr. Rahul Bhujbal, Advs.
For the Defendants : Mr. Saurabh Bhargavan, Mr. Nikhil S. Nair and Ms. Chinju Saurabh, Advs.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. overview of patent infringement case and context. (Para 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14) |
| 2. plaintiff's arguments on patent validity and infringement. (Para 16 , 17 , 18) |
| 3. defendant arguments contesting infringement claims. (Para 22 , 23) |
| 4. court's analysis of infringement based on established patent rights. (Para 25 , 26 , 30) |
| 5. assessment of product's compliance with patent claims. (Para 28 , 29) |
| 6. need for expediting justice through admissions in legal process. (Para 32 , 33 , 36) |
| 7. final judgment and orders against defendant. (Para 38 , 39 , 40 , 41) |
JUDGMENT :
I.A. 24574/2023 (Judgement on Admission)
Preface:
1. The plaintiff instituted a suit for permanent injunction restraining the defendants from infringing its Indian Patent No.394568, [Hereinafter referred as ‘IN’568] as also other ancillary reliefs against the defendant nos.1 and 2.
2. Vide order dated 16.02.2023, this Court granted an ad interim injunction in its favour and against the said defendant nos.1 and 2. Thereafter, vide order dated 03.03.2023, the suit was decreed qua the defendant no.1 in terms of the settlement arrived at inter se it and the plaintiff. Later on, vide order dated 04.07.2024, the order dated 16.02.2023 was made absolute qua the remaining defendant no.2.
3. It is in this backdrop that the plaintiff has filed the present application under Order XII rule 6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, [Hereinafter referred as ‘CPC] to pass a judgement on admission against the remaining defendant no.2.
Brief Factual Matrix:
4. As per plaint, the plaintiff, GSP Crop Science Pvt. Ltd., is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 with its office at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and is engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of agrochemicals.
5. The plaintiff engages in extensive research and development for creating affordable products for farmers in India, and has made significant investments thereto, as also received several national and international awards. As a result thereof, the plaintiff has over 70 patents and patent applications in India as on date, of which IN’568 is one.
6. IN’568 discloses and claims a synergistic suspo-emulsion formulation of two agrochemical ingredients, Pyriproxyfen and Diafenthiuron, either in their free base forms, or as agrochemically acceptable salts with Poly Aryl Phenol or Octyl Phenol Ethoxylates, and Magnesium Aluminium Silicate and Acrylic polymer respectively. IN’568 also discloses and claims a process for the preparation of the aforesaid suspo-emulsion formulations.
7. The application for IN’568 was filed by the plaintiff in 2014, and the patent was granted in 2022, with ten claims. Out of the ten claims, claims 1 and 10 are independent, and claims 2 to 9 are dependent on claim 1. Claims 1 and 10 of IN’568 are produced hereinbelow:
“1. A Synergistic Suspo emulsion formulation comprising of
a) Pyriproxyfen as its free base or its agrochemically acceptable salts with Poly Aryl Phenol or Octyl Phenol Ethoxylates
b) Diafenthiuron as its free base or its agrochemically acceptable salts with Magnesium Aluminium Silicate and Acrylicpolymer
c) one or more inactive excipients selected from the group consisting of antifreezing agent, anti-foaming agent, suspending agent, antimicrobial agent, thickener and buffering agent Wherein Pyriproxyfen is in the range of 1 to 15%;and Diafenthiuron is present in the range of 25 to 55
10. The Synergistic suspo emulsion formulation as claimed in claim 1 wherein, method for preparing the Synergistic suspo-emulsion composition comprises:
a) Treating Pyriproxyfen with Poly Aryl Phenol or Octyl Phenol Ethoxylates Octylphenol ethoxylates, Ethoxylates of Poly Aryl Phenol and propylene glycol resulting in a preformed solution;
b) Treating Diafenthiuron with Acrylicpolymer of Amine Salt, Magnesium Aluminium Silicate, Silica and Silicon Antifoam Emulsionin aqueous phase;
c) Mixing Solution of step a) and step b), water and buffering agent wherein buffering agent is selected
