Bilcare loses patent case over metallised PVC film

Bilcare, India's one of the largest supplier of metallised PVC films used in pharmaceutical and food industry for packaging, has lost the patent case over the metallised film in the Delhi High Court.

Rejecting Bilcare's suit, the court said that it has violated basic principle of patent law that a product could not be publicly released or worked prior to the filing of the patent application.

The applications for food and pharma has been known prior to the patent application of Bilcare itself and hence cannot be termed as invention in the metallized packaging film as claimed by it, the court said.

Vacating an ex-parte stay on Amartara from using Bilcare's patented metallized packaging films, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said "the use of such PVC metallized films has already been in existence for both pharmaceutical and food industry. There is enough material on record to substantiate this."

"I am unable to accept the submission of plaintiff (Bilcare) that the said factors were unknown to the industry including as a combination. The individual components were known. The combination of these components was also known," the bench said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Bilcare for concealing the fact that it was actually importing the product in question from Nan Ya Plastic Corporation, Taiwan and not the original inventor of the product as it had claimed.

Amartara counsel Pratibha Singh contended that both Bilcare and Amartara, suppliers of PVC films, were importing the products from Taiwan and Bilcare was not manufacturing the product.

The judgment came on a suit filed by Bilcare, seeking extension of interim order restraining Amartara from using former's patented metallized PVC films, used for packaging in food and pharma industry.

Bilcare claimed that Amartara has infringed its patent by supplying identical film to pharmaceutical industry infringing its patent.

Rejecting Bilcare's contention that Amartara has infringed its patent, the court said "the ex-parte injunction has resulted in loss to the defendant and the injunction has been obtained by not disclosing the complete facts including the important aspect of the plaintiff sourcing the material through Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, Taiwan."