Nearly five months after the grant of injunction against TVS Motors for prima facie infringement of Bajaj’s patent on dual-spark ignition technology, here comes another row involving Bajaj Auto limited and Eicher Motors, which owns Royal Enfield. According to India e-news:“Bajaj said it was studying if Royal Enfield's Thunderbird Twin spark 350cc bike violated their patent on the twin-spark technology. It said if Enfield was found to have violated the patent, the company would take the matter to court.”
To this, Eicher Motors managing director and chief executive Siddhartha Lal says the twin-spark technology - the issue behind a court battle between Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor - is not a patentable know-how.
It may be recalled here that during the injunction proceedings against TVS Motors, Bajaj had time and again emphasized that its patent claimed the use of dual-spark ignition in engines of 75-220cc capacity, which claim is itself in question thanks to a revocation petition filed by TVS Motors.
That apart, the makers of the Thunderbird claim that the bike’s engine is based on Unit Construction Engine (UCE) model that largely differs from the kind of engines which the Bajaj patent speaks of. Unit Construction Engine refers to a setup where the engine and gear box are integrated within the same unit thereby eliminating the need for external drive connecting the engine and the transmission. Also, the bike uses electronic fuel injection.
Whatever be the case, it certainly looks like the next few months have loads of goodies in store for techies and patent practitioners alike!
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