had engaged almost all lawyers who specialised in patents law with their briefs. As it is, it is very rare to have litigation on patents law and only @ few lawyers were specialised in that branch of law. Whosoever was Practising had been briefed by Hoechst. We were thus cornered in that Way as well. We engaged Shri Marzban Mistry, a senior counsel from the High Court. He was ably assisted by Shri S P Bharucha as a Junior lawyer who later retired as a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India in 2002. My Professor and specialist on patents Law Shri S B Shah also joined them and appeared on behalf of Unichem. Our argument was based on the fact, accepted by Hoechst, that we were manufacturing our product according to a patent granted by the Comptroller of Patents, Government of India which had accepted our distinctness. Although the two companies’ final Product was same the Processes were different.We had reached the same destination by two different routes.
Chronologically the Hoechst patent was earlier, and it was not a Matter of dispute. The fact that our patent was granted even when the earlier patent was on record the fact that our patent was also a registered patent were further points, accepted by Hoechst. We were harping on these points. The real dispute was therefore a single issue and that was whether Unichem process was distinct from that recorded in the Hoechst patent. The scientists from Haffkine were telling us that their process was different. Hoechst had furthermore engaged Shri Blanco White a barrister
from England, as a lawyer with specialisation in patents law to argue their case.
Our lawyers were not having a background of Chemical Science and Technology. We were relying on the scientists who had developed the process. In other words the fight in the High Court was between the reputed Scientists on one hand and a reputed Lawyer who also knew his science well on the other hand. The point of dispute was about a distinctness of two scientific Processes. The Judge is not expected to
be expert in the subject matter and were knowledgeable in the Process claims.
My knowledge of Chemistry was near zero. Pre
Paring for this case Thad to learn the intricacies of Carbon atoms,
benzene ring, valencies and
distinctness of our Process e. r educational system there is
- id to e» Ntific propositions in common
man’s language. Emphasis is laid on technical terms and their usage in the class. It works all right in the class oom, as students are hardly interested
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