Standard Essential Patents - The Philips judgement & unanswered questions
Recently, Delhi High Court delivered a judgment in favour of Philips in the consolidated matters namely Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. vs. Rajesh Bansal & Ors. After a long trial, the defendants were found liable for infringement of Standard Essential Patent (SEP) of Philips. While this judgment on Standard Essential Patents is important because it is the first such judgement after a complete trial, the questions regarding the procedure for establishment of essentiality, determination of FRAND rates are yet to be answered. It also remains unanswered whether royalty can be paid on the basis of smallest saleable patent practicing unit i.e. whether the royalty is to be based on price of final product or the component containing the codec alone...
Ratio decidendi
- Trademark – No monopoly over entire class of goods – Supreme Court
- Trademark in ‘Pehla Nasha’ – Interim injunction granted against ‘Radio Nasha’ – Delhi High Court
- Copyright in image of ‘Lightning McQueen’ protected from commercial misuse – Delhi High Court
- Patent in eco-friendly efficient vehicle – Absence of novelty – Calcutta High Court
- Designs - Unique design of fans & electrical products – Delhi High Court
- Concept in “Jeeto unlimited” not copyrightable – Delhi High Court
News Nuggets
- 3D shape of KIT KAT - No ‘acquired distinctive character’ throughout EU
- Novelty in bottle designs of ECO FLIP TOP BOTTLE – Interim relief
- Interim injunction against use of words ‘Delhi Public School’
- FRAVIA found to be creating confusion & infringing registered mark BRAVIA
