MUMBAI, India, Jan. 9, 2008: The Controller of Patents pronounced its decision of dismissing the two oppositions against Bilcare's (patent no 197823) on Metallized Packaging Films and uphold the validity of the said patent. The judgment was pronounced after multiple hearings from Mumbai Patent office and the Assistant Controller of Patents stated :"In view of my findings as above after careful consideration of statements, evidences and arguments at the hearing, the opposition is dismissed and the opponent shall pay to the applicant (the Patentee) the costs as annexed herein." "The costs to be paid to the Patentee by the opponents (Rs. 30, 000 in one case and Rs. 29,500 in another) included costs for irrelevant citations and documents".
Bilcare had filed its patent application for its invention of metallized packaging films on March 03, 2004. The Controller of Patents granted the Patent No 197823 by sealing the patent on 29th December 2005. The invention related to a multi layer thermoformable, translucent PVC film with metallization to provide distinctive features for identity as well as effective anti-counterfeit solution. This novel film became an immensely valuable packaging material for the packaging of pharmaceutical products. The Indian pharmaceutical industry realized and appreciated the novelty and began using this film for packaging their products. Shelcal (a Calcium supplement manufactured by Elder Pharmaceuticals) became the first product in the world to use this novel packaging material. The metallized film created a distinctive identity for several widely used medicines.
According to Dr. Praful Naik, Chief Scientific Officer, Bilcare Ltd, "This judgment vindicates Bilcare's invention and upholds the validity of the patent granted for this invention. The invention was upheld based on sound technical justifications and the decision comes as a great boost to the pharmaceutical industry".
Bilcare continues its focus on innovations through Research and its R&D team has been and is working relentlessly to create continual innovations. This decision will augment the Bilcare portfolio of novel packaging materials with several new inventions to provide a range of anti-counterfeit and product identity solutions coupled with solutions addressing challenges of the pharmaceutical industry viz. Compliance and Convenience of product usage. Intellectual property creation and its protection will remain the prime endeavor for Bilcare. This is substantiated by the fact that Bilcare has over 55 patents applications worldwide and continues to not only develop novel products, processes and technologies in-house but also acquire them to enhance its offerings to the Global pharmaceutical sector.
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