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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+ CS(COMM) 425/2023
INTERVET INTERNATIONAL B.V. & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Ms. Tusha
Malhotra, Mr. Devinder Rawat, Ms.
Yamini Jaswal and Ms. Richa
Bhargava, Advocates.

versus

VEKO CARE PRIVATE LIMITED & ANR. ..... Defendants

Through: None.

CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA
ORDER
% 02.06.2023

I.A. 11383/2023 (under Order XI Rule 1(4) (as amended by the Commercial
Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High
Courts Act, 2015) r/w Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
[“CPC”] seeking permission to place additional documents on record)
1. This is an application seeking leave to file additional documents under
the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
2. If the Plaintiffs intend to submit additional documents at a later stage,
they must adhere strictly to the provisions specified in the aforementioned
Act.
3. Disposed of.

I.A. 11384/2023 (under Section 151 of CPC seeking exemption from filing
dim, illegible copies, along with supporting affidavit)

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By:SAPNA SETHI
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 4. Exemption is granted, subject to all just exceptions.
5. Plaintiffs shall file legible and clearer copies of exempted documents,
compliant with practice rules, before the next date of hearing.
6. Disposed of.

I.A. 11385/2023 (under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015
r/w Section 151 of CPC seeking exemption from pre-litigation mediation
proceedings)

7. Having regard to the facts of the present case and in light of the
judgement of Division Bench of this Court in Chandra Kishore Chaurasia v.
R.A. Perfumery Works Private Ltd.,1 exemption from attempting pre-
litigation mediation is allowed.
8. Disposed of.

I.A. 11386/2023 (under Section 151 of CPC seeking extension of time for
filing court fees)
9. For the grounds and reasons stated therein, the application is allowed.
Plaintiffs are granted two weeks’ time to furnish the deficient Court fees,
commencing today.
10. Disposed of.

I.A. 11387/2023 (under Section 151 of CPC seeking permission to deposit

audio recordings in a data storage device)
11. Plaintiffs seek the leave of the Court to place on record audio
recordings taken by an operator of the Independent Investigator in a CD-

1
DHC Neutral Citation: 2022/DHC/004454.

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By:SAPNA SETHI
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 ROM. Rule 24 of Chapter XI of the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules,
2018 provides that electronic records can be received in CD/ DVD/ Medium
encrypted with a hash value, details whereof are to be disclosed in a sperate
memo in the form of an affidavit. The said Rule is extracted below: -
“24. Reception of electronic evidence - A party seeking to tender any
electronic record shall do so in a CD/ DVD/ Medium, encrypted with a hash
value, the details of which shall be disclosed in a separate memorandum,
signed by the party in the form of an affidavit. This will be tendered along
with the encrypted CD/ DVD/ Medium in the Registry. The electronic record
in the encrypted CD/ DVD/ Medium will be uploaded on the server of the
Court by the Computer Section and kept in an electronic folder which shall
be labeled with the cause title, case number and the date of document
uploaded on the server. Thereafter, the encrypted CD/ DVD/ Medium will
be returned to the party on the condition that it shall be produced at the
time of admission/denial of the documents and as and when directed by the
Court/ Registrar. The memorandum disclosing the hash value shall be
separately kept by the Registry on the file. The compliance with this rule
will not be construed as dispensing with the compliance with any other law
for the time being in force including Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act,
1872.”
[Emphasis supplied]

12. The Registry may receive electronic record on CD-ROM so long as it

is encrypted with a hash value or in any other non-editable format,
compliant with the afore-noted provision. The audio recordings be then
placed in the electronic record of the present suit, in a format which is non-
editable, as per the above provision, for court’s viewing.
13. Disposed of.

CS(COMM) 425/2023
14. Let the plaint be registered as a suit.
15. Upon filing of process fee, issue summons to the Defendants by all
permissible modes. Summons shall state that the written statement(s) shall

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 be filed by the Defendants within 30 days from the date of receipt of
summons. Along with the written statement(s), the Defendants shall also file
affidavit(s) of admission/ denial of the documents of Plaintiffs, without
which the written statement(s) shall not be taken on record.
16. Liberty is given to the Plaintiffs to file replication(s) within 15 days of
the receipt of the written statement(s). Along with the replication(s), if any,
filed by the Plaintiffs, affidavit(s) of admission/ denial of documents of the
Defendants, be filed by the Plaintiffs, without which the replication(s) shall
not be taken on record. If any of the parties wish to seek inspection of any
documents, the same shall be sought and given within the timelines.
17. List before the Joint Registrar for marking of exhibits on 08th
September, 2023. It is made clear that any party unjustifiably denying
documents would be liable to be burdened with costs.
18. List before Court for framing of issues thereafter.

I.A. 11382/2023 (under Order XXXIX Rules 1 & 2 r/w Section 151 of CPC
seeking ad-interim injunctive reliefs against Defendants)
19. Mr. Pravin Anand, counsel for Plaintiffs, presents his case as follows:
Plaintiff No. 1, namely ‘Intervet International B.V.’ (also known as ‘MSD
Animal Health’), an LLC incorporated in the laws of Netherlands, is an
indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of ‘Merck & Co., Inc.’ (parent entity).
Plaintiff No. 2 – ‘Intervet India Pvt. Ltd.’ is an associate/ group company of
Plaintiff No. 1, in India. Plaintiff No. 1 has instituted the present
proceedings against Defendant No. 1, namely ‘Veko Care Private Limited’
and as the exclusive licensee of the patent holder, and has included the
patent holder, ‘Nissan Chemical Corporation’ (formerly known as Nissan

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By:SAPNA SETHI
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 Chemical Industries Limited), as a pro-forma party and arrayed them as
Defendant No. 2. The lawsuit concerns infringement of Indian Patent No.
283279 [referred as “suit patent”] relating to isoxazoline-substituted
benzamide compound and the salt thereof, which are useful as a pest
controlling agent (endo-parasiticides and ecto-parasiticides) for domestic
animals or pets.
20. The suit patent covers a molecule having an International Non-
Proprietary Name (INN) – ‘FLURALANER’. The said molecule was
invented by Defendant No. 2, who has patents for the same in over 13
countries. The suit patent discloses and claims various compounds,
including “(±)4-[5-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)-4,5-dihydro-
1,2-oxazol-3-y1]-2-methyl-N-{2-oxo-2-[(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)amino]ethyl}
benzamide”.

21. The said compound has been designated the International Non-
Proprietary Name (INN) as ‘Fluralaner’ by WHO in 2013, which is an active
ingredient of the veterinary drug marked in India under the trade name
‘Bravecto’ and ‘Exzolt’. An extract from the WHO recommended INN list
designating the name ‘Fluralaner’ to the said compound is annexed with the
list of documents filed with the present Plaint. Fluralaner is covered by the
Claim l and Claim 2 and ‘Synthetic Example 21’ specifically disclosed its

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 preparation, which is compound No. 5-151 of the suit patent. The molecular
structure of the compound Fluralaner also has been disclosed in the suit
patent. A person skilled in the art based on his common general knowledge
and the teachings of the patent specification of the suit patent, in particular
Synthetic Example 21 can readily prepare and isolate Fluralaner
notwithstanding the fact that the suit patent has product claims. Therefore,
once the product and its structure is known through the disclosure made in
the patent specification, any person skilled in the art can derive the same.
22. The Plaintiffs discovered that Defendant No. 1 was actively
promoting, exporting, and making available for sale counterfeit Fluralaner
products, specifically tablets branded as Furaline, which were offered in
different strengths or potencies (112.5mg, 250mg, 500mg, 1000mg), on their
website as well as product catalogues/ brochure available on the website.
Following are the screenshots extracted from Defendant No. 1’s webpages
which includes the product catalogues/ brochures available on the website
[https://www.vekocare.com/products ] :
(i) Defendant No. 1’s webpages:

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 (ii) Product catalogues/ brochure of Defendant No. 1 on the webpages:

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 23. Upon becoming aware of Defendant No. 1’s infringing activities, the
Plaintiffs conducted further investigation and found that Defendant No. 1

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 has not yet commenced marketing the product domestically. Instead, they
are currently soliciting inquiries and actively advertising their business and
products. Reliance is placed on the investigator’s report annexed with the
Plaint.
24. Defendant No. 1 has no authorisation or permission to develop
Fluralaner product under the brand name ‘Fluraline’. Offering for sale and
exporting the same prima facie constitutes infringment of Plaintiff’s suit
patent as the exclusive right to manufacture the same vests only with
Plaintiff No. 1 and Defendant No. 2.
25. In view of the above, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have made out a
prima facie case in their favour and in case no ex-parte ad-interim
injunction is granted Plaintiffs will suffer an irreparable loss; balance of
convenience also lies in favour of Plaintiffs and against Defendants.
Accordingly, till the next date of hearing, Defendant No. 1 and any one
acting for or on their behalf are restrained from making, using, selling,
distributing, advertising, exporting, offering for sale, and in any other
manner, directly or indirectly, dealing in any product, that infringes Indian
Patent No. 283279, including ‘Fluralaner’ under the brand name ‘Furaline’.
26. Compliance of Order XXXIX Rule 3 of CPC be done with one week
from today.
27. List before the Court on 09th November, 2023.

SANJEEV NARULA, J
JUNE 2, 2023
d.negi

Signature Not Verified

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By:SAPNA SETHI
Signing Date:03.06.2023
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