Summary
The post analyses the Bombay High Court’s decision in Safex Chemical India Ltd vs The Controller Of Patents and another, involving a dispute on the right to respond to claim amendments during a pre-grant opposition. Safex Chemical challenged the grant of a patent to Deepak P. Shah, arguing that it was denied the chance to address final amended claims. The Court held that since Safex had already engaged in pre-grant opposition and subsequent procedures, the writ petition was not maintainable. The judgment clarifies the procedural framework for pre-grant and post-grant oppositions under Indian patent law. The case underscores the importance of following statutory procedures in patent opposition matters.
Safex Chemical India Ltd vs The Controller Of Patents And another
In this case, Safex Chemical India Limited (“Safex”) filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court with respect to the denial of the opportunity to respond to amendments in a pre-grant opposition. The patent application in the case is related to the chemical composition for increasing crop yield. This application was filed by Deepak P. Shah (“Deepak”).
Safex filed a pre-grant representation against grant of the patent to Deepak. Following the pre-grant opposition, Deepak filed amendments to his claims before the Controller of Patents. The Controller heard the parties and granted a patent over the final amended claims. Safex approached the Bombay High Court through a writ petition claiming that it was not given an opportunity by the Controller to respond to the final amended claims. Before that Safex also filed a post-grant opposition against the patent granted to Deepak.
After hearing the parties, the Court dismissed the writ petition. It stated that the writ petition would have been entertained if Safex had approached the Court without filing the pre-grant opposition. After it filed the pre-grant opposition, two Opposition Boards were constituted, and the hearing was also fixed. Under the circumstances, the Court was not inclined to entertain the writ petition.
Citation: Safex Chemical India Ltd vs The Controller Of Patents And another, Decided by Bombay High Court on 13 October, 2022, available at: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/51123752/, visited on 15th October, 2022.