Liabilities Of An Infringer In An Infringement Suit: A Case Analysis

In the recent judgment of the Delhi High Court dated 13^th December 2021, it was observed that "When an infringer seeks to defend patent infringement on the ground that the patent is invalid, the onus to prove the invalidity of patent lies heavily on an infringer and this standard has to be met when applying the Principle of Credibility".

This observation was put forward by Justice C Hari Shankar as he restrained Natco Pharma Limited (defendant) from importing, selling, offering for sale, exporting, or dealing directly or indirectly in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) containing Eltrombopag Olamine (EO).

Facts:

On 27th March 2009, the Patent suit (alternatively be used as suit patent) was originally granted to M/s SmithKline Beecham Corporation (later renamed "GlaxoSmithKline LLC"). According to Novartis, on 5^th October 2015, the patent suit was first assigned by GlaxoSmithKline LLC to the Glaxo Group Ltd, by a back-to-back assignment deed. On the same