The Civil Miscellaneous Appeal under Section 117-A of the Patents Act, 1970, sought to overturn the rejection of a patent application for an "Eco-friendly lamp made up of composition based on panchagavya with the combination of leaves used in traditional herbal medicine."
The appellant's counsel argued that the invention met the requirements of Section 2(1)(j) of the Patents Act and that the prior art cited was not relevant, as it pertained to mosquito repellents and not lamps.
The respondents argued that the invention was liable to rejection due to prior art documents D1 to D3, which they claimed contained most of the ingredients used in the invention. The appellant's counsel countered by emphasizing the uniqueness of their invention's composition and process, and its use of specific proportions of ingredients.
The prior art documents D1 to D3 played a crucial role in the court's decision to reject the patent application. These documents are referenced to establish whether the claimed invention would be obvious to a person skilled in the art, a key consideration in determining the patentability of an invention under Section 2(1)(j) and Section 2(1)(ja) of the Patents Act, 1970. D1, published on 10.06.2017, disclosed a composition for a herbal mosquito repellent made from cow dung, cow milk, cow ghee, neem, and peepal tree barks. Although it did not directly relate to a lamp, the court considered the commonality of some of the ingredients used in D1 with those in the claimed invention. The court found that D1 alone did not provide a coherent thread leading to the claimed invention, but it is part of the body of knowledge that a person skilled in the art would consider. D2, authored by Mandavgane and published on 11.04.2005, also related to a herbal mosquito repellent composition. It contained cow dung and neem, which are ingredients in the claimed invention.
However, D2 did not include all the ingredients of the claimed invention. The court considered D2 as part of the prior art that a person skilled in the art would be aware of. D3 disclosed the production of eco-friendly lamps/diyas from cow dung, ghee, and essential oils. It was the most relevant prior art as it directly related to the production of lamps using natural ingredients. The court found that D3, combined with the knowledge from D1 and D2, would make the claimed invention obvious to a person skilled in the art. The court reasoned that once the ingredients are part of traditional knowledge, working out the optimum ranges and proportions is a matter of routine experimentation and cannot be construed as inventive.
The court concluded that the invention was not patentable under Section 3(p) and that it would be obvious to a person skilled in the art based on the cited prior art and common general knowledge. Therefore, the appeal was dismissed without any order as to costs, and the patent application remained rejected.
Case Citation: The Zero Brand Zone Pvt. Ltd. Vs Controller of Patent:05.07.2024:([OA/32/2020/PT/CHN]:Madras High Court:Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, H. J.
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Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman
IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney]
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