TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (12) TMI 1380
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....his appeal can be summarised as under :- The appellant is a Danish company incorporated under the laws of Denmark. The appellant is engaged in manufacture of highly efficient industrial fans, marketed under the Brand 'Novenco ZerAx'. According to the appellant, the said brand was developed after an investment of approximately 3.66 million euros between 2007 and 2015. The appellant secured several patents and design registrations to secure its innovation in India and abroad. 5. A dealership agreement was executed on 01.09.2017 between the appellant and respondent No.1, Xero Energy Engineering Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad (hereinafter, referred to as 'Xero Energy'), for marketing and sale of Novenco ZerAx fans across India. According to the appellant, Xero Energy's Director, in violation of distribution agreement, incorporated respondent No.2, Aeronaut Fans Industry Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter, referred to as 'Aeronaut Fans'), for manufacture and sale of identical fans under deceptively similar name and appearance. The appellant discovered sometime in July, 2022 that Xero Energy started marketing competing products. 6. The appellant sent multiple communications to Xero Energy o....
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....rgency, the plaint was liable to be rejected under Order VII Rule 11 of CPC. The learned Single Judge, therefore, allowed the application under Order VII Rule 11 of CPC and rejected the plaint. 11. The appellant preferred an appeal. A Division Bench of the High Court, by an order dated 13.11.2024, agreed with the reasons assigned by the learned Single Judge. The Division Bench, inter alia, held that delay between inspection of fans and filing of the commercial suit exhibits patent lack of urgency and exemption from requirement of compliance of the mandate contained in Section 12A of the Act cannot be claimed merely because interim reliefs were sought. It was further held that mere continuous infringement of intellectual property rights could not override the statutory mediation requirements. The Division Bench, however, clarified that the order of rejection of the plaint would not bar the appellant in case it chooses to comply with Section 12A of the Act and subject to the outcome of the mediation proceeding and if the cause of action still survives, it may institute a suit. Accordingly, the Division Bench dismissed the appeal. In the aforesaid factual background, this appeal ar....
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....there was no urgency to deviate from the mandatory statutory requirement under Section 12A of the Act. It is urged that mere filing of an application for interim relief does not ipso-facto indicate urgency and there is no material on record to suggest that appellant's patent is being violated. It is, therefore, submitted that the appeal is liable to be dismissed. STATUORY PROVISION :- 15. Before dealing with the rival submissions canvassed on either side, we must take note of relevant statutory provision. The Act has been enacted, inter alia, with an object for early resolution of commercial disputes so as to create a positive image amongst the investors about our strong and responsive legal system and to facilitate ease of doing business. The Act was amended in the year 2018 by Act No. 28 of 2018. By the aforesaid amending Act, Section 12A was also incorporated with an object to provide for compulsory mediation before initiation of a suit where no urgent interim relief is contemplated. 16. Section 12A of the Act reads as under :- "12A. Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement - (1) A suit, which does not contemplate any urgent interim relief under this Act, shall....
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....he plaint. 18. In Yamini Manohar (supra), another two-Judge Bench of this Court laid down the criteria to judge whether the plaint contains a prayer for urgent interim relief, by taking into account the subject matter of the suit, the cause of action and the prayer for interim relief. It was further held that the facts and circumstances of the case have to be considered holistically from the standpoint of the plaintiff and the prayer for urgent interim relief should not be a disguise or mask to wriggle out of and get over Section 12A of the Act. The scope and ambit of the words 'contemplate any urgent interim relief' in Section12A of the Act, with reference to the suit, were also considered and it was held that the plaint, documents, and facts should show and indicate the need for urgent interim relief. It was further held that this is the precise and limited exercise that the Commercial Courts will undertake. 19. In DHANBAD FUELS (P) LTD. v. UOI-( 2025) SCC Online SC 1129, another two-Judge Bench of this Court held that the test under Section 12A is not whether the prayer for urgent interim relief actually comes to be allowed or not, but whether on examination of the nature ....
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....intellectual property. Each act of manufacture, sale, or offer for sale of the infringing product constitutes a fresh wrong and recurring cause of action. It is well settled in law that mere delay in bringing an action does not legalise an infringement and the same cannot defeat the right of the proprietor to seek injunctive relief against the dishonest user-Midas Hygiene Industries Private Ltd. & Anr. (supra). The appellant has pleaded that Xero Energy, its former distributor, has dishonestly appropriated its proprietary designs and patents to manufacture and market identical fans under deceptively similar name. The accompanying material demonstrates that such infringing activity is continuing and causing immediate and irreparable harm to the appellant's business reputation, goodwill and proprietary rights. 23. From the standpoint of the appellant, each day of continuing infringement aggravates injury to its intellectual property and erodes its market standing. The urgency, therefore, is inherent in the nature of the wrong and does not lie in the age of the cause but in the persistence of the peril. The court cannot be unmindful of the fact that intellectual property disputes a....