Khaitan & Co represented Inox India Ltd. in a significant IP dispute before the Supreme Court of India concerning the overlap between copyright and design law in the context of engineering drawings used in cryogenic storage systems.
The case stemmed from a suit filed by Inox alleging copyright infringement and misuse of confidential information by Cryogas Equipment Pvt. Ltd. and LNG Express India Pvt. Ltd. While the Commercial Court in Vadodara rejected the suit under Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act, the Gujarat High Court allowed the matter to proceed to trial.
The Supreme Court dismissed the SLP filed by the defendants and upheld the High Court’s ruling, introducing a two-pronged legal test to assess whether industrial works qualify for copyright or design protection. The Court also directed expedited trial timelines.
The core team consisted of Smriti Yadav (Partner), Nirupam Lodha (Partner) and Madhura Sureshkumar (Associate).