Case study: patent infringement in India

Water Tube Ltd, an Irish SME, developed a unique technology in the field of water management. Water Tube patented the technology behind their product through a European patent, as they did in India, where they saw a potential market for it. With the aim of increasing their footprint in the Indian market, Water Tube licensed their technology to Indian partners, who manufactured and sold a product that was based on the patented technology. However, the Indian partners informed them that, despite the patent protection, a local manufacturer was making and commercialising infringing products. Water Tube sent a notice to the infringing party and asked it to either stop the infringement or obtain a licence to manufacture and sell the patent-protected products, hoping that the infringer would be dissuaded from continuing the infringing activities. They decided to wait for an answer from the local manufacturer before taking any legal actions. The local manufacturer, however, took advantage of the situation and filed an action for revocation before the High Court to challenge the validity of Water Tube’s patent. The local manufacturer claimed that it lacked novelty and inventive step and provided several prior art documents to support this claim.