- Case number
- IPDPTA/13/2024
- Court
- Calcutta High Court
- Date of judgment
- Judge
- Ravi Krishan Kapur
- Outcome
- Remanded
Headnote
Refusal of a heater assembly for generating aerosol under section 3(b) set aside, in the fullest treatment of that provision in this corpus. The Court held that a preconceived and subjective notion that all tobacco products cause serious prejudice to human life and health, unsupported by scientific or technical evidence, is unsustainable, and that the finding of conflict with public order and morality was unreasoned, cryptic and baseless. Observing that the interaction of patent law and ethics has always produced difficulties, it held that section 3(b) ought not to be interpreted to address all subjective concerns of morality, public order or health without scientific or technical evidence or cogent reasoning. Reliance on Article 47 of the Constitution was misplaced: neither the Directive Principles nor Article 14 have a role in adjudicating the validity of an invention, and in going down that road the Controller misjudged the role of the Patent Office. Section 83(e) was also misread as if grant would itself commercialise the product and affect public health. Separately, reliance on three documents that appeared in neither the First Examination Report nor the hearing notices was held a serious procedural infirmity violating natural justice.
Headnote by BRB Legal, written from the judgment: a summary for reference, not legal advice. Read the judgment itself before relying on it.