Facts:

• The Garware Wall Ropes Limited (Appellant), manufacture, sell, use, or offer for sale the “GSWR and Spiral Lock Systems bearing Patent Nos. 196240 and 201177 products patented by the Appellant.
• The M/s A.I. Chopra & another (Respondent), was a railway contractor. Respondent No.2 – Konkan Railway was co-patentee with the Appellant in respect of 240 patents.
• Respondent no. 1 allegedly infringed on the patents by manufacturing and selling similar systems without consent.
• The dispute arose when the Appellant discovered that the Respondent was manufacturing and selling systems similar to their patented products without authorization. Despite a legal notice sent to the Respondent, they continued to participate in tenders and offer the systems for sale.
• The Appellant filed a suit against the Respondent for a declaration that Defendant No.1 was not entitled to manufacture, sell, use, or offer for sale the products patented by the Appellant and claimed damages and a decree for temporary injunction.

Background/ Procedural Posture:

Aggrieved by the decision of the Trial Court which rejected the application for the grant of temporary injunction filed by the Appellant/Plaintiff, the matter was appealed by the Plaintiff to the Single Judge of Hon’ble Bombay High Court.

Main Issue:

Is the Central or State Government, or a government undertaking, entitled to use a patent for purposes beyond their strictly departmental functions without payment of royalties?