Bajaj Auto wins technology patent case against TVS Motors

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In the first of its kind case in India, Bajaj Auto has scored against rival TVS Motor in the technology patent case. But the fight may not be over yet, reports CNBC-TV18.

 

The Flame has been stopped before it could try to set TVS Motor's sales charts on fire. The Madras High Court has granted injunction to Bajaj Auto in the ongoing patent battle between the two companies. In a double blow to TVS, the Madras High Court dismissed an appeal by TVS to restrain Bajaj from interfering in the manufacturing and sale of the Flame 125. But the order of interim injunction restraining TVS Motor from manufacturing and selling Flame 125 or any other bike with the twin spark technology is the bigger blow.

 

AA Mohan, the Counsel for Bajaj Auto, said, "This means that TVS can't manufacture and sell Flame 125 bikes any longer till the orders are finally settled. TVS may go on appeal against this order before the division bench of the Madras HC."

 

TVS Motor had been banking on the Flame 125 to help arrest its falling sales. The company will do exactly that on Monday. The two month long legal battle, after series of hearings in the HC and also at the Supreme Court, has gone in favour of Bajaj Auto.

 

Earlier in December, Bajaj had obtained an injunction to stop the sale of the Flame, but it was vacated by the division bench the day after. The Flame125, which was commercially launched on December 13 in Chennai, faced roadblocks right from the beginning and bookings for the bike were stalled since January 18 after a Supreme Court order. The result of the next course of action will determine whether it will be back in the showrooms and take the TVS-Bajaj fight from the courtroom to the market place. And the new injunction also poses a question about the implementation of  the twin spark technology which TVS developed with AVL of Austria.