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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

I.A. No.7441 of 2008 in C.S. (OS) No.1206 of 2008

Reserved on : 4^th September, 2009

Decision on: 10^th September, 2009

STRIX LIMITED

..... Plaintiff

Through: Ms. Anuradha Salhotra with

Ms. Bhawna Gandhi, Mr. Aminesh

Mishra and Ms. Doyel Sen Gupta,

Advocates.

versus

MAHARAJA APPLIANCES LIMITED

.... Defendant

Through: Mr. Manav Kumar,

Mr. Sushant Singh, Ms. Neha Kapoor

and Mr. Akash Chandra Akya,

Advocates.

CORAM:

HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE S. MURALIDHAR

1. Whether reporters of the local newspapers be allowed to

see the judgment?

No

2. To be referred to the Reporter or not?

Yes

3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Yes

J U D G M E N T

S. Muralidhar, J.

1. This is an application filed by the Plaintiff under Order XXXIX Rules

1 & 2 CPC seeking an ad-interim injunction to restrain the Defendant

from infringing the registered design and patented invention of the

Plaintiff under No. 192511/95 or any part thereof as detailed in the claim

of the patent. An interim injunction is also sought against the Defendant

to restrain it from manufacturing, using, selling and/or importing the

„Maharaja Whiteline‟ electric kettle Model No. EK 172.

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2. The Plaintiff states that it is a company incorporated in the year 1951

under the name and style of „Castletown Thermostats‟ and existing under

laws of the Isle of Man having its registered address at Forrest House,

Ronaldsway, Isle of Man, IM92RG, British Isles. The name of the

Plaintiff was changed to „Strix Limited‟ in the year 1981.

3. The Plaintiff claims to be the world‟s leading manufacturer, inter alia,

of temperature controls and cordless interfaces for kettles, jugs and a

wide range of water boiling appliances, selling in over 40 countries in

the world. It is stated that Strix Controls are presently used over one

billion times a day worldwide by over 20 per cent of the population

across the globe.

4. The controls/inventions of the Plaintiff are used by the kettle

manufacturers to give their products extra features. They are designed to

work in conjunction with the heating element of kettles and are the

means to the kettle switching off when the water boils, thus protecting

them from getting damaged in case the appliance is not filled with liquid.

A list of the famous brands selling appliances that contain the Plaintiff‟s

controls has been set out in paragraph 6 of the plaint. It is claimed that

these include Philips, Tefal, Rowenta, Morphy Richards, Russell Hobbs,

Braun, Kenwood and Bosch Siemens.

5. The Plaintiff holds a product patent number 192511/95 in respect of

„Liquid Heating Vessels‟. A certified copy of the certificate granting the

above patent in favour of the Plaintiff is enclosed with the list of

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documents filed by the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff‟s patent was granted on

11^th November, 2005 and is valid for a period of twenty years from the

date it was applied for, i.e. 9^th June, 1995.

6. According to the Plaintiff in terms of Section 48 of the Patents Act,

1970, a patent holder can enforce its rights against all third parties who

are enjoined to use the patent only with the prior permission of the patent

holder. The Plaintiff claims that Strix U10 Series Controls were sold by

it first in 1996. It is claimed that the product patent was first used in

India in the year 2002. The principal claim of the patent is that of a

liquid heating vessel comprising a liquid receiving container and an

electrical heating element provided in thermal contact with the base of

the container. It is stated to contain a thermally sensitive overheat control

comprising of at least two thermally responsive sensors arr