The Delhi High Court recently put mediation and out-of-court
settlements center stage, as mechanisms to conclusively put an end
to ongoing competition litigation. But do competition disputes end
with private settlements and oust CCI's jurisdiction?
Recently, the Delhi High Court, in the matter of
JCB v. CCI, terminated the proceedings before the
Competition Commission of India (CCI) primarily on
account of the informant - Bull Machines Private Limited
(BMPL) and the opposite parties - JCB India
Limited and JC Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB),
settling the matter amongst themselves. (JCB
Order)
The genesis of the dispute was a suit filed by JCB against BMPL
in 2011, seeking an injunction and restraining order against
infringement of copyright and piracy of JCB's registered design
before the Delhi High Court. In retaliation, BMPL challenged the
validity of the registered designs of JCB by filing a cancellation
petition before the Controller of Designs. To put an
