TMPatentDismissed December 9, 2011
Natural Remedies Private Limited v. Indian Herbs Research & Supply Co. Ltd.
O.S.No.1 of 2004
- Court
- High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore
- Bench
- N Kumar
- Outcome
- Dismissed
- Date of judgment
- 12/9/2011
Statutory provisions
Section 3(e), Patents Act 1970 — Non-patentability of substances obtained by mere admixture or processes producing themSection 10(4), Patents Act 1970 — Mandatory contents and proper description in complete specifications and claimsSection 64(1), Patents Act 1970 — Grounds for revocation of a patentSection 104, Patents Act 1970 — Jurisdiction of courts and transfer of infringement suits with counterclaimsSection 104A, Patents Act 1970 — Shift of burden of proof in infringement suits involving process patents
Key issue
Whether the defendant infringed the plaintiff's process patent for a herbal liver formulation, and whether the patent was liable to be revoked for lack of novelty, lack of inventive step, and insufficient disclosure.
Summary
The plaintiff sued the defendants for patent infringement, alleging that their veterinary product copied the patented process used to make an herbal liver supplement. The defendants denied copying and filed a counterclaim to revoke the patent, arguing the process was not new and lacked an inventive step. The High Court found that the four plant ingredients were already widely known and traditionally used in Indian households and previous formulations. The court also observed that the plaintiff failed to show the products were identical, meaning the legal burden to prove a different manufacturing process did not shift to the defendant. Because the process merely combined known herbs without demonstrating any novel inventive step in the manufacturing method itself, the patent was invalid.
Result: Infringement suit dismissed and the defendant's counterclaim decreed, resulting in the revocation of the plaintiff's patent.
Tags
#Patent Infringement#Counterclaim for Revocation#Herbal Composition#Traditional Knowledge#Inventive Step#Section 104A#Section 64#Admixture
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