Delhi High Court Awards ₹217 Crore In Lost Profits Damages To CCAI In Patent Infringement Suit Against Mobi Antenna Technologies

The Delhi High Court has awarded ₹217 crore in lost profits damages to Communication Component Antenna Inc (CCAI) in a patent infringement case against Mobi Antenna Technologies.

Justice Jyoti Singh cited the Delhi High Court's decision in Strix Ltd. v. Maharaja Appliances Limited 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 1016, which established that a reasonable measure for computing damages would be the potential reasonable profit a patentee would have earned if the infringing product had been sold by the patentee.

“Applying these principles, punitive damages cannot be awarded in favour of the Plaintiff. Coming to compensatory damages, Plaintiff has succeeded in establishing infringement of IN'893 by Defendant No.1 and is entitled to monetary compensation. Court, as above, held that where the patentee is a manufacturer of the patented product, reasonable profit that patentee would have earned if the infringing product was actually sold by the patentee, would be a reasonable measure,” Justice Singh noted.

The suit filed by CCAI sought a permanent injunction to restrain Mobi Antenna Technologies from using any product that infringes on Indian Patent No.240893. This patent covers the invention titled "Asymmetrical Beams for Spectrum Efficiency."

The plaintiff argued that the novelty of the patent lies in its ability to achieve greater spectrum efficacy by altering the beam pattern. This innovation allows for a higher number of subscribers to connect using the same spectrum without compromising call quality. Additionally, it was emphasized that the invention's purpose is to enhance efficacy without sacrificing quality, ensuring that a greater number of subscribers can connect while maintaining call quality.

It is noteworthy that Mobi actively participated in the trial but abandoned the proceedings after the Court dismissed its challenge to the validity of CCAI's patent.

The Court observed, "Defendant No.1 abandoned the proceedings midway and were proceeded ex parte. Given that the suit was uncontested, the Court is not granting a certificate of validity under Section 113 of the Patents Act."

Based on the evidence led by the parties, the Court found the following to be proved in respect of infringement of IN'893 by Mobi:

“a) beam patterns in the Product Brochures are asymmetrical;

b) beam patterns in the Product Brochures are identical to the beam patterns produced from the power and phase weightings in IN'893;

c) beam shape of Defendant's Infringing Products gives feature of “substantial equivalence” of critical coverage area as compared to the critical coverage area of the earlier antennas; and d) impugned products replace or are capable of replacing, three existing 65-degree antennas in a 3-sector configuration as well as in greenfield cellular networks where three 65-degree antennas in a 3-sector configuration could have been used.”

The Court determined that the damages had to be paid on the basis of lost profits. Accordingly, the Court observed, “Plaintiff has placed on record Purchase Orders reflecting the retail prices and has taken the average of the antennas sold in USA as USD 1,350. The average cost price is shown as USD 800 and therefore, the profit is USD 550 per unit. Total lost market share is calculated at 94,710 between 2011 and 2014. In my view, the figure of 94,710 cannot be accepted in the absence of any evidence on the actual lost market share and it cannot be concluded with certainty that the entire market share would have come to the kitty of the Plaintiff.”

“Therefore, the reasonable estimate of the lost market share, considering that Plaintiff is a patent holder and looking at the number of base transceiver stations/ tower sites that may have been available in the Indian market, would be half of 94,710 units. Taking the average retail price at USD 1,350 and multiplying 47,355 units with USD 550, this Court awards damages to the tune of USD 2,60,45,250, equivalent of which is Rs.2,17,47,78,375/- at the current US Dollar rate, for the period 2011 to 2014,” the Court added.

The suit was decreed and disposed of accordingly by the court.

Case Title: Communication Component Antenna Inc v. Mobi Antenna Technologies

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 660

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