Himachal Pradesh HC refuses to quash FIR against P&G in patent case

A view of the Excessive Courtroom at Shimla in Himachal Pradesh.
| Picture Credit score: R.V. Moorthy

The Himachal Pradesh Excessive Courtroom has refused to quash an FIR registered towards Procter & Gamble (P&G) in a case involving allegations of dishonest by utilizing the patented concept of an Indian innovator for business exploitation.

The FIR of January 2024, lodged on a criticism by Rajiv Rai Sachdev, alleges that P&G invited him to collaborate by submitting a patented innovation as a part of its “Join + Develop Programme”.

Mr. Sachdev claims he shared a proprietary technique of dyeing textiles utilizing neem and holy basil extracts — a know-how he had patented in India, the U.S., and Europe.

Whereas P&G later expressed disinterest in a proper partnership, Mr Sachdev claimed the corporate went on to launch a product — Whisper Extremely Clear (with natural oil) — allegedly utilizing the know-how submitted by Mr. Sachdev.

The innovator stated he despatched a cease-and-desist discover to the corporate on Could 13, 2022, alleging infringement of his patent and trademark.

In response, P&G argued that the method used of their product was solely completely different and didn’t infringe upon the patented technique.

The multi-national firm additional contended that the product in query didn’t observe the innovator’s course of and merely added natural oil containing neem to the interior layers of sanitary napkins.

The corporate additionally stated the innovator can’t declare a monopoly over the usage of neem, which has been utilized in India for hundreds of years.

It challenged a trial court docket order dated December 30, 2023, which had directed the police to register an FIR towards the corporate. The trial court docket had additionally held that the allegations within the utility confirmed that the accused had used the thought of the informant for business exploitation.

Earlier than the excessive court docket, the counsel showing for P&G emphasised that the allegations, at greatest, amounted to a civil dispute and that prison proceedings had been unwarranted.

“There could be no dispute with the proposition of regulation that the civil dispute can’t be become prison proceedings, nonetheless, it doesn’t imply that no civil motion may give rise to a prison motion,” the excessive court docket famous.

The Excessive Courtroom additional clarified that the supply of cures below the Patent Act doesn’t preclude recourse to prison regulation in instances the place fraudulent inducement and misappropriation are alleged.

Whereas the corporate submitted that it by no means used the know-how/course of submitted by Mr. Sachdev, the excessive court docket stated, “These are the questions of truth which require investigation”

“The allegations within the FIR, if believed to be right, prima facie present the offence of dishonest, and it’s impermissible to quash the identical. Subsequently, the current petition fails, and the identical is dismissed,” the excessive court docket stated in its Could 28 judgment.