Section 66: Remedy for groundless threats of infringement proceedings

66. Remedy for groundless threats of infringement proceedings.—(1) Where any person, whether entitled to or interested in a patent or an application for a patent or not, threatens any other person by circulars, advertisements or otherwise with proceedings for infringement of a patent, any person aggrieved thereby may bring suit against him for any such relief as is specified in sub-section (2). (2) Unless in any suit under sub­section (1) the defendant proves that the acts in respect of which proceedings were threatened constitute or, if done, would constitute, an infringement of a patent or of rights arising from the publication of a complete specification in respect of a claim of the specification not shown by the plaintiff to be invalid, the plaintiff shall be entitled to the following reliefs, namely:__ (a) a declaration to the effect that the threats are unjustifiable; (b) an injunction against the continuance of the threats; and (c) such damages, if any, as he has sustained thereby. (3) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that a mere notice of the existence of a patent does not constitute a threat of proceedings within the meaning of sub­section (1).

Effective date: 2000-01-01

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