Judgement by Delhi High Court grants relief to Ericsson under Competition Law

The court determined that the Patents Act of 1970 is a separate statue and that the Competition Act of 2002 should not be used to resolve any issues relating to a party's exercise of it's patent rights.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI)'s antitrust actions against the telecom giant Ericsson were dismissed on July 13th by a two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court.

The court determined that the Patents Act of 1970 is a separate statue and that the Competition Act of 2002 should not be used to resolve any issues relating to a party's exercise of it's patent rights. The court further decided that the CCI does not have the authority to look into whether a corporation exploited it's dominant position when exercising it's patent rights.

The Delhi High Court stated that "the competition regulator does not have jurisdiction to inquire into the business of licensing patents, as this is a matter solely governed by the Patents Act."

Given that the CCI had only made a preliminary determination, a solitary judge on the Delhi High Court declined to halt the probe, enabling the anti-trust watchdog to carry on its investigation. The corporations then protested this order before the division bench.

After careful deliberation, the two-judge bench came to the conclusion that any problem relating to the practise of patent law must unavoidably fall under the jurisdiction of the Patents Act rather than the Competition Act.

Ericsson had initially contacted the court in 2020 to ask for a decision on this legal issue resulting from the antitrust proceedings against them.

By issuing this ruling, the court has put an end to the argument over whether or not the CCI can look into claims of abuse of a dominant position based on a company's patent portfolio.