Focus on judicial trend of temporary injunctions in Indian patent litigation

Temporary or interim injunctions are not defined by India’s Patents Act, 1970. Their grant is governed by the Code of Civil Procedure under Indian law. The code especially includes clauses that describe patent owners’ rights to obtain interim injunctions so as “to maintain the status quo” while litigation is in progress.

As listed in the code, parameters governing the grant of such injunctions include existence of a prima facie case in favour of the patentee-plaintiff, balance of convenience in favour of the patentee-plaintiff, and probability for suffering irreparable loss and injury by the plaintiff.

Past decisions

In the patent litigation scenario concerning automotive, electronic, telecoms and consumer products-based industries, the court’s decisions prior to 2008 were not particularly encouraging in respect of the grant of injunctions. In 2008, the Madras High Court decision in Bajaj Auto v TVS Motor Company was a welcome change.

The decision granted an interim injunction to the plaintiff, Bajaj Auto, after examining the parameters for the granting of an injunction in patent infringement cases.

The major necessity within patent suits is the first parameter, which must be established due to an absence of presumptive validity to a patent under section 13(4) of the Patents Act. Since a granted patent is never presumed to be valid under the Patents Act the plaintiff must establish the first requirement.