S. Muralidhar JUDGMENT
S. Muralidhar, J.
1. This is an application filed by the plaintiff under Order XXXIX Rules 1 & 2 CPC seeking an ad-interim injunction to restrain the Defendant from infringing the registered design and patented invention of the plaintiff under No. 192511/95 or any part thereof as detailed in the claim of the patent. An interim injunction is also sought against the Defendant to restrain it from manufacturing, using, selling and/or importing the "Maharaja Whiteline" electric kettle Model No. EK 172.
2. The plaintiff states that it is a company incorporated in the year 1951 under the name and style of 'Castletown Thermostats' and existing under laws of the Isle of Man having its registered address at Forrest House, Ronaldsway, Isle of Man, IM92RG, British Isles. The name of the plaintiff was changed to 'Strix Limited' in the year 1981.
3. The plaintiff claims to be the world's leading manufacturer, inter alia, of temperature controls and cordless interfaces for kettles, jugs and a wide range of water boiling appliances, selling in over 40 countries in the world. It is stated that Strix Controls are presently used over one billion times a day worldwide by over 20 per cent of the population across the globe.
4. The controls/inventions of the plaintiff are used by the kettle manufacturers to give their products extra features. They are designed to work in conjunction with the heating element of kettles and are the means to the kettle switching off when the water boils, thus protecting them from getting damaged in case the appliance is not filled with liquid. A list of the famous brands selling appliances that contain the plaintiff's controls has been set out in paragraph 6 of the plaint. It is claimed that these include Philips, Tefal, Rowenta, Morphy Richards, Russell Hobbs, Braun, Kenwood and Bosch Siemens.
5. The plaintiff holds a product patent number 192511/95 in respect of 'Liquid Heating Vessels'. A certified copy of the certificate granting the above patent in favour of the plaintiff is enclosed with the list of documents filed by the plaintiff. The plaintiff's patent was granted on 11th November, 2005 and is valid for a period of twenty years from the date it was applied for, i.e. 9th June, 1995.
6. According to the plaintiff in terms of Section 48 of the Patents Act, 1970, a patent holder can enforce its rights against all third parties who are enjoined to use the patent only with the prior permission of the patent holder. The plaintiff claims that Strix U10 Series Controls were sold by it first in 1996. It is claimed that the product patent was first used in India in the year 2002. The principal claim of the patent is that of a liquid heating vessel comprising a liquid receiving container and an electrical heating element provided in thermal contact with the base of the container. It is stated to contain a thermally sensitive overheat control comprising of at least two thermally responsive sensors arranged "in good thermal contact with and at spaced apart locations on the base of the container or the element said sensors individually being operable, in the event of said element overheating due to the vessel being switched on dry or boiling dry but not during normal boiling operation of the vessel so as to interrupt or reduce the supply of electrical energy to the element." In other words, the control works based on sensing the temperature of the element. The element gets switched off once a certain temperature is reached. For the sensors of the plaintiff's patented product to work, therefore, there is no need for the container itself to contain the liquid.
7. The Defendant is an Indian company engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling of electrical ap........