The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed TVS Motor Company to sell its twin spark plug ‘TVS-Flame’ 125cc motorbikes but made it clear that the company should maintain an accurate record of its all-India and export sales. The Supreme Court had in its earlier order said that the company could manufacture the motorbike but the finished product should not be released from the company’s warehouse.
A Bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice A. K. Ganguly disposed of a special leave petition filed by Bajaj Auto against an interim order of the Madras High Court rejecting its plea of infringement of its patent. A single judge of the High Court allowed the application of Bajaj Auto but a Division Bench had allowed the appeal by TVS Motor. The present appeal is directed against this judgment. On Tuesday, the Bench had reserved verdict after hearing senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi for TVS Motor and senior counsel Rohinton Nariman for Bajaj Auto and the judgment was delivered on Wednesday.
The Bench asked the “Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to forthwith nominate a Receiver in the matter to whom the sale records/accounts will be submitted by the respondent fortnightly, and the Receiver will verify the said sale records/accounts and thereafter submit his report to the High Court where the suit is pending. This direction will continue till the pendency of the suit”.
The Bench asked the single judge of the High Court to dispose of the suit on or before November 30.
K. T. Jagannathan writes from Chennai:
While TVS Motor has claimed that the Supreme Court judgment has vindicated its stance, Bajaj Auto has interpreted the verdict differently. A release from Bajaj Auto has pointed out that the “matter has now been reverted to Madras High Court, with directions to complete the full trial and to pronounce orders latest by November 30, 2009”. In the interim, the release has noted, the apex court has allowed TVS Motor to sell its bikes with twin spark plugs. A Division Bench of the Madras High Court on May 18 had allowed TVS Motor’s appeal and decided prima facie that there was no infringement by TVS Motor. “In our understanding, today’s [Wednesday’s] Supreme Court order has not accepted this view and has accordingly directed the Madras High Court to complete the trial and pronounce its judgment by November 30, 2009,” the Bajaj Auto release has claimed.
