Honda patented Bajaj tech: TVS

Says it has filed a revocation petition at the Chennai Patent Office

NEW DELHI: The fight between TVS and Bajaj Auto over the patent of Digital Twin Spark Plug ignition (DTSi) technology took another turn on Wednesday.

The Chennai-based company said that the product was already patented in the US by Honda Motor Company.

Speaking to DNA Money, Lakshmi Kumaran, the patent attorney representing TVS, said: "We found that the technology for which invention was claimed by Bajaj was already patented in the US by Honda Motor Company. We have contended that the grant of patent to Bajaj is wrong".

The company has served Bajaj with a copy of the revocation petition it had filed at the Chennai Patent Office on August 24.

Kumaran said that Bajaj will continue to hold the valid patent till a decision is taken on the revocation petition.

The revocation has been asked from the Appellate Board, but one wonders why it was filed just days before TVS was scheduled to unveil its new 125 cc bike Flame fitted with CC-VTi technology (Controlled Combustion Variable Intelligent), which Bajaj has objected to.

Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto seems to have blinked first in the ongoing battle.

Three days after alleging that TVS has infringed its patent, Bajaj Auto CEO (two-wheelers) S Sridhar said any infringement of the patent would be "clearly and finally evident only if and when an offending product is actually launched".