US Court Orders EscapeX, Lawyers To Pay Google USD 2.5 Lakh As Cost For Frivolous Patent Suit

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld a California court's order requiring a mobile app developer- EscapeX to pay Google more than USD 2.5 lakh in attorneys' fees and costs after finding that the company filed a frivolous patent infringement lawsuit and then tried to prolong the case with an equally baseless post-judgment motion. This included a USD 63,525 that EscapeX and its lawyers must jointly pay for multiplying the proceedings.In a ruling dated November 25, 2025,...

Delhi High Court Quashes Patent Office Order, Sends Trident's 'Air Rich Yarn' Patent Plea Back For Review

The Delhi High Court has overturned a Patent Office decision that refused Trident Limited a patent for its “air rich” yarn and fabric technology. The court said the Patent Office failed to properly examine the key feature of the invention, which is the “homogeneous distribution of pores across the radial cross-section of yarn”, and had not correctly assessed obviousness under Indian patent law. In a judgment dated November 24, 2025, Justice Tejas Karia held that the Patent Office had not...

LiveLawBiz: Business Law Daily Round-Up: November 26, 2025

ArbitrationArbitration | Unconditional Stay On Execution Of Award Only In Exceptional Cases: Supreme CourtPower To Extend Arbitrator's Mandate Lies With Civil Court Of Original Jurisdiction, Not Appointing Court: Telangana High CourtBombay High Court Upholds Arbitral Award In Favour Of TCS; Rejects UP Assembly's 'Frustration' Claim Over Cancelled Recruitment ExamIBCPending Appeal Against CoC Formation Not Grounds To Oppose Appointment Of New Resolution Professional: NCLATNCLAT Dismisses...

Madras High Court Quashes Order Allowing Pfizer To Seek Documents From Indian Drug Manufacturer For US Suit

The Madras High Court has overturned a Single Judge's order that had permitted pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to enforce Letters Rogatory issued by a United States court to obtain documents and testimony from Chennai-based Softgel Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. Letters Rogatory are formal requests sent by a court in one country to a court in another country seeking assistance in gathering evidence for a legal proceedingA division bench of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice Mummineni Sudheer Kumar ruled on...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Rejection Of Medilabo's Patent For Neurodegenerative-Disease Drug

The Delhi High Court has set aside a Patent Office order refusing Medilabo RFP's patent application for a pharmaceutical composition used in treating neurodegenerative diseases, holding that the authority rejected the application without examining the amended claims and without explaining how the invention fell within the bar on “methods of treatment” under Section 3(i) of the Patents Act, 1970. For context, Section 3(i) of the Patents Act excludes the patenting of methods of diagnosis and...

Madras High Court Asks Patent Office To Re-Evaluate Objections Against Allied Metallurgical's Anti-Stick Coating Patent

The Madras High Court has recently set aside a Patent Office order that refused Hi Tech Chemicals' challenge to an anti-stick coating patent owned by Allied Metallurgical Products, after finding that the authority failed to properly examine the objections raised. The court said that “the quality of obviousness analysis leaves much to be desired” and directed a fresh hearing before a different officer. A single bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, delivering the judgment on November...

India's Trademark Registry Accepts Its First Smell Trademark For Japanese Company's Rose-Scented Tyres

The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has accepted a Japanese company's application for a “floral fragrance/smell reminiscent of roses applied to tyres”, making it the first smell mark to be accepted for advertisement in India.The order dated November 21, 2025 directs that Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.'s application in Class 12 be advertised on a “proposed to be used basis” as an olfactory mark along with the graphical representation it submitted. Sumitomo filed the...

Bombay High Court Sets Aside Patent Office Rejection, Orders Fresh Consideration of Medical Therapeutic Device Patent

The Bombay High Court has set aside the rejection of a patent application for a medical therapeutic device, directing the Patent Office to reconsider the matter afresh. The court found that the Patent Office had failed to follow mandatory statutory procedures under the Patents Act before refusing the application. A single bench of Justice Arif S Doctor passed the order on November 17, 2025, ruling that the Patent Office's refusal suffered from procedural irregularity and a lack of reasoning. ...

Delhi High Court Rejects FMC's Plea to Block Natco Insecticide Over Patent Dispute

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed an application by FMC Corporation seeking to restrain Natco Pharma Limited from manufacturing and selling its insecticidal product “Cyantraniliprole 10.26% OD.” FMC alleged that Natco's product used a chemical intermediate covered by Claim 12 of its patent IN'645, which is set to expire on December 6, 2025.A sinhle bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna dismissed the FMC's plea for interim relief on the ground that it failed to establish a prima facie case for...

DPIIT Notifies Draft Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2023

On August 22, 2023, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, released the "Draft Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2023". These rules are aimed at updating the regulation of patent applications and their processing, which are currently governed by the Patents Rules of 2003 (2003 Rules).The 2003 Rules replaced the previous Patents Rules of 1972 and provided a detailed outline of the procedure for filing patents and related activities. However, due...

Jurisdiction Of Competition Commission Not Excluded Merely Because Actionable Info Relates To A Patent: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that the jurisdiction of Competition Commission of India is not ousted merely because the information on which it seeks to initiate an enquiry relates to a patent.A single bench of Justice Yashwant Varma held that so long as the CCI is duly and statutorily empowered to deal with all information which it may receive with respect to actions that may (i) impede competition, (ii) usher in an anti-competitive environment, (iii) relate to abuse of dominant position or...

Monsanto Bt Cotton: Delhi HC Holds That CCI 's Jurisdiction To Hear Complaints Regarding Abuse of Dominance In Respect To Patent Rights Not Excluded [Read Judgment]

While highlighting that there's no conflict between the Patents Act and the Competition Act, the Delhi High Court has held that the jurisdiction of the CCI to entertain complaints regarding abuse of dominance in respect to patent rights could not be excluded. The Single Bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru further noted that the exclusionary clause under section 3(5) of the Competition Act cannot allow the patentee to include onerous conditions under the guise of protecting its rights. ...