ABBVIE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC & ANR. vs ASSISTANT CONTROLLER OF PATENTS DESIGNS

Judgment text excerpt

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment Reserved on: 25.03.2025 Judgment pronounced on: 16.04.2025 + C.A.(COMM.IPD-PAT) 44/2023 & I.A. 23895/2023 ABBVIE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC & ANR. .....Appellants Through: Ms. Archana Shankar and Mr. Pravin Anand, Advocates. versus ASSISTANT CONTROLLER OF PATENT DESIGNS .....Respondent Through: Ms. Manisha Agrawal Narain, CGSC with Mr. Abhishek Kumar and Mr. Nipun Jain, Advocates. CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT BANSAL JUDGMENT AMIT BANSAL, J. 1. The present appeal has been filed under Section 117A of the Patents Act, 1970 (hereinafter ‘Act’) and is directed against the order dated 31 st July, 2023 (hereinafter ‘impugned order’) passed by the Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs (hereinafter ‘Controller’), whereby the Indian Patent Application No. 201817047767 titled ‘ANTI-cMet ANTIBODY DRUG CONJUGATES AND METHODS FOR THEIR USE’ (hereinafter ‘subject patent application’) has been refused. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed C.A.(COMM.IPD-PAT) 44/2023 Page 1 of 20 By:KOMAL DHAWAN Signing Date:16.04.2025 13:00:52 BRIEF FACTS 2. Brief facts necessary for deciding the present appeal are set out below. 2.1. The appellants, AbbVie Biotherapeutics Inc. and AbbVie Inc. are biopharmaceutical companies. 2.2. The subject patent application was filed as a national phase application in Indian Patent Office, Delhi on 17th December, 2018 under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (hereinafter the ‘PCT’) with PCT application number PCT/US2017/033176 dated 17th May, 2017, claiming priority from a US Patent application US 62/337,796 dated 17th May, 2016. 2.3. A request for examination of the said application was filed by the appellant on 15th May, 2020, and the First Examination Report (hereinafter the ‘FER’) was issued on 5th November, 2