Standard essential patent disputes: Delhi HC found prima facie infringement and insufficient validity challenge for interim relief in a FRAND setting.

In an interim patent dispute over standard essential patents, the Delhi High Court treated Section 8 disclosure obligations as mandatory but found substantial compliance on the material before the Patent Office, so the defendant's validity objections based on foreign prosecution disclosures and patentability exclusions did not amount to a credible challenge at the interlocutory stage. The Court also accepted prima facie infringement based on claim mapping, expert support and testing material, while noting the defendant had not produced comparable technical rebuttal. In the FRAND context, the correspondence and conduct supported ongoing negotiations, and the plaintiff satisfied the usual injunction factors, justifying interim protective relief with royalty-linked conditions and disclosure directions.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether the defendant had raised a credible challenge to the validity of the suit patents on the grounds of non-compliance with disclosure obligations and alleged exclusion under the patentability provisions; (ii) whether the plaintiff had shown a prima facie case of infringement of standard essential patents and entitlement to interim injunctive protection in a FRAND setting.

Issue (i): Whether the defendant had raised a credible challenge to the validity of the suit patents on the grounds of non-compliance with disclosure obligations and alleged exclusion under the patentability provisions.

Analysis: The objections founded on alleged non-disclosure of foreign prosecution material were examined patent-wise and were not found, at the interim stage, to displace the prima facie force of the grant and disclosures already made. The Court treated Section 8 of the Patents Act, 1970 as mandatory, but held that the material placed before the Patent Office showed substantial compliance and that the alleged omissions did not, at this stage, establish intentional suppression or a credible basis to deny interim protection. On the objections under the exclusions for computer program per se, mathematical methods and schemes or mental acts, the Court held that the patents, as presented, disclosed technical features and technical contribution in communication systems and were not shown to be mere abstract algorithms. The pending revocation petitions were noted, but the Court declined to treat them as, by themselves, a sufficient credible challenge at the interim stage.

Conclusion: The validity challenge was not accepted as a sufficient ground to refuse interim relief at this stage.

Issue (ii): Whether the plaintiff had shown a prima facie case of infringement of standard essential patents and entitlement to interim injunctive protection in a FRAND setting.

Analysis: The Court found that the suit patents were linked to relevant telecom standards and that the defendant's own pleadings and correspondence supported the inference that the patents were being used in the defendant's devices. The Court accepted that the plaintiff had placed claim-mapping material, expert support, and testing reports on record, while the defendant had not produced comparable technical material to rebut infringement. On the FRAND dispute, the Court held that the correspondence and conduct showed prolonged negotiations, that the defendant had not demonstrated a compelling basis to resist a licence, and that the plaintiff's royalty approach could not be rejected at the interim stage. Applying the usual injunction factors, the Court held that the plaintiff had shown prima facie infringement, balance of convenience, and irreparable harm, while the defendant's challenge and its alternative royalty position did not defeat interim protection.

Conclusion: Interim injunctive relief was warranted, coupled with royalty-linked conditions and disclosure directions.

Final Conclusion: The application was disposed of by granting protective relief in favour of the plaintiff, subject to compliance directions and royalty-related arrangements, while making the findings tentative for the trial of the suit.

Ratio Decidendi: In an interim patent infringement dispute involving asserted standard essential patents, a court may grant injunction-like protection where the patentee shows prima facie validity and infringement, the defendant's validity attack does not amount to a credible challenge at the interlocutory stage, and the balance of convenience and irreparable injury support relief.

---