23/06/2026
Honoured to have argued and won this significant patent appeal before the Hon'ble Delhi High Court on behalf of Patent office.
In C.A.(COMM.IPD-PAT) 109/2022 – Shaafi Naturcure LLP vs. Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs, the Hon’ble Mr. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela delivered a detailed and well-reasoned judgment on 22.06.2026, upholding the rejection of Indian Patent Application No. 201911048481 titled “A Herbal Powder Composition for the Treatment of Asthma”.
The claimed invention sought monopoly over a specific combination of six Indian herbs (Tephrosia purpurea, Cuscuta reflexa, Morinda citrifolia, Terminalia arjuna, Piper longum and Piper nigrum) in defined ratios, asserting it could treat all five types of asthma with synergistic effect.
Key principles affirmed by the Court:
1. Patentability is governed exclusively by the Patents Act, 1970. Approval or agreement under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (and with the National Biodiversity Authority) is a regulatory requirement for access and benefit-sharing — it has no bearing on whether an invention meets the criteria of novelty, inventive step or sufficiency. There is simply no nexus.
2. Post-filing evidence has limits. An inventor’s affidavit containing clinical data on 300 patients, classification into five types of asthma, side-effects of altering ratios, or claims of synergy cannot be used to establish technical effects or features for the first time if they are not at least implicitly disclosed in the original Complete Specification. Such material can only confirm what was already there (following the principle laid down in AstraZeneca AB v. Alkem Laboratories).
3. Inventive step in traditional knowledge-based inventions. Individual herbs and their use in asthma/respiratory ailments were already known from prior art and Traditional Knowledge Digital Library citations. The Complete Specification itself contained examples showing that even a 4-herb composition provided relief — undermining the claimed synergy of the specific 6-herb combination. Mere selection and optimisation from a pool of known herbs, without demonstrable technical advancement or enabling disclosure in the original filing, does not meet the threshold under Section 2(1)(ja).
The Court found no error in the impugned order dated 16.09.2020 passed by the Assistant Controller. The appeal was dismissed.
Delhi High Court Upholds Rejection of Asthma Herbal Composition Patent, Rules National Biodiversity Authority’s Approval Does Not Determine Patentability
Read More Here- https://thebarbulletin.com/delhi-hc-asthma-herbal-patent-rejection/
