In its legal tussle with Bajaj, at last, TVS has won in terms of twin-spark plug technology for its bikes. The dispute is over the patent right of this technology claimed by Bajaj Auto. Dismissing the petition filed by Bajaj against TVS on infringement case, the apex court has allowed TVS to sell the Flame pending the outcome of the judgment from the Madras High Court. To its part, TVS shall maintain the sales figures accurately till the case is finished.
The earlier judgement of the Madras high court was appealed by Bajaj for which the single judge read out an interim judgement suspending the sales by TVS. The Supreme Court has taken the case only to divert the case to the Madras High Court to be argued before the Pooja Holidays. The apex court has instructed the state court to dispose the case before November 30 by making daily hearings. Further, an appraiser shall be appointed by the Madras High Court to assess the sales of TVS Flame in the country who will forward it to the Madras High Court. By this, Bajaj might get a substantial amount as the damages from the TVS, if the infringement is found legally. TVS has got valid points in its favour- it manufactures Flame using a three-valve engine based on CCVT-i technology which differs from that of Bajaj’s.
The Madras High Court has to make a final decision on this case irrespective of the directions from the apex court. The supreme court had, earlier, restrained TVS from moving its final products for marketing until further orders. The order prevented both the companies from going to the media or any publicity mode in this regard. The legal expert team included Abhishek Singhvi, KK Venugopal, Shanti Bhusan, Somayajulu and Raman counselling for TVS and RF Nariman, Mahesh Agarwal, AA Mohan and Shiraj Dhru representing Bajaj.