Putting an end to a protracted legal battle, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), Chennai, has dismissed an appeal filed by LML, which had sought revocation of a patent granted to Bajaj Auto on air and fuel intake systems for two-stroke engines.
Bajaj Auto was granted the patent for an intake
system for two-stroke engines used in two-wheelers, that would result in improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.
LML had moved the IPAB in 2007, arguing that it wasn?t an invention but just a minor rearrangement of technology in the public domain.
After hearing both parties, an IPAB bench of Prabha Sridevan, chairman, and DPS Parmar, technical member patents), said, ?In view of analysis and findings, we are convinced that the applicant (LML) has not made out a case for revocation of this patent. Accordingly, the petition is dismissed?.
The dispute dates back to April 12, 2004, when LML received a cease-and-desist notice from Bajaj on the use of the technology. Subsequently, LML filed a petition for revocation of the patent before the Delhi High Court on April 27, 2004. The case was then transferred to the IPAB by the Delhi FC on May 25, 2007.
The LML counsel submitted that the claimed invention did not involve any inventive step. The complete specification did not sufficiently or fairly describe the invention and the method by which it was to be performed, he said.
He said it was a well-settled principle of law that mere juxtaposing of known components did not amount to novelty for grant of a patent.
The counsel for Bajaj argued that the impugned patent related to an improved intake system employed in an internal combustion engine and while all the parts per se were known, the combination function is different.
?We find the argument of the Bajaj counsel convincing as the conventional functions of the individual parts would not suggest the increase in the efficiency and reduction of emission. The impugned claim relates to a combination of several parts and not any individual part to part,? said the IPAB.