CHENNAI: The legal tussle between two-wheeler giants Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Company took a new twist on Wednesday, with the Madras High Court turning the heat on the latter’s Flame bike.
On Wednesday, the court restrained TVS from booking, distributing or selling the recently-launched Flame, following a patent infringement suit filed by Bajaj Auto.
The case, which came up for hearing before Justice R Banumathi, has been adjourned till January 3.
Apart from maintaining status quo, the court has also directed TVS to maintain accounts in respect of orders already booked. The copy of the order is expected to be issued on Thursday.
At Wednesday’s hearing, TVS tried to impress on the court not to issue any interim order as it wants to file a counter with respect to the case. However, for the moment, its rival appears to hold sway.
AA Mohan of Mohan Associates and Dhruv from Mumbai are the legal counsels for Bajaj Auto while TVS is represented by Chennai-based HSB Associates senior counsel AL Somayaji.
TVS has already filed a suit under the Indian Patents Act in the Madras High Court to counter Bajaj’s claims of patent violation. The case is to come up for hearing next month. In the absence of a court order, TVS had launched its new 125-cc offering on December 13.
The country’s third-largest motorcycle manufacturer, after Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto, had expected the new product to boost its monthly sales by 20,000 units, once the national rollout was completed in January. Flame was aimed at taking on Bajaj’s XCD 125, launched in September. Buoyed by strong demand, Bajaj Auto has apparently sold 63,000 units of XCD 125 in September and October and is set to enhance this figure to 75,000 units.
Bajaj Auto responded to the launch of Flame by filing a suit on December 17, seeking to restrain TVS from manufacturing, selling or distributing vehicles protected by patent number 195904.
Bajaj Auto claims that it has the patent credit for the digital twin spark ignition (DTSi) technology, which uses two spark plugs for better fuel-efficiency and lower emissions. It found Flame’s technology specifications to be infringing on its patent.
It all started in September this year, when Bajaj Auto alleged that TVS had infringed on its DTSi patent, an intellectual property used in most Bajaj bikes. The initial duel remained verbal till TVS took the war to courts in October. It filed a Rs 250-crore defamation suit against Bajaj Auto in the Bombay High Court and another one in the Madras High Court under the patent law. Bajaj Auto was recently served papers by the court in the first case.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com
No comments:
Post a Comment