SC: Competing patent suits consolidated—Delhi infringement suit transferred to Bombay; Section 106 ‘groundless threats’ action has independent cause
Case Name: Atomberg Technologies Pvt. Ltd. v. Eureka Forbes Ltd. & Anr. (with connected TPs)
Citation: Transfer Petition (Civil) Nos. 1983 & 2174 of 2025
Date of Judgment: 17 October 2025
Bench: Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar
Held: The Supreme Court held that a suit under Section 106 of the Patents Act, 1970 (groundless threats) presents an independent cause of action distinct from an infringement action under Sections 104/108. Given that Atomberg’s Section 106 suit in the Bombay High Court predated Eureka Forbes’ Delhi infringement suit by six days, that issues of fact and law substantially overlapped, and that Delhi jurisdiction was invoked merely through an online purchase and delivery, the Court ordered transfer of the Delhi infringement suit to the Bombay High Court to be tried with the earlier Bombay action, applying the consolidation rationale of Chitivalasa Jute Mills v. Jaypee Rewa Cement.
Summary: Atomberg launched its “Intellon” water purifier on 20 June 2025 and, alleging groundless oral threats of patent enforcement to its distributors/retailers, filed a Bombay suit on 1 July 2025 under Section 106. Eureka Forbes, asserting use of its patented features and access to confidential know-how via a former contract manufacturer, filed a Delhi infringement suit on 7 July 2025 after purchasing Atomberg’s product online and getting it delivered in Delhi. Noting that both parties are Mumbai-based, that the suits concern the same product/patents and would require largely common evidence, and that Section 106’s 1970 enactment removed the old 1911 negatory proviso (so the threats action does not yield to a later infringement action), the Court found consolidation in Bombay most efficient to avoid duplication, conflicting findings, and forum shopping.
Decision: Transfer Petition (C) No. 1983 of 2025 allowed: CS(COMM) No. 663/2025 (Delhi infringement suit) transferred to the Bombay High Court to be tried with Commercial IP (L) No. 19837/2025 (groundless threats suit); interim applications to be heard expeditiously. Transfer Petition (C) No. 2174 of 2025 dismissed.