Bajaj, TVS Motor settle all cases related to patent infringement

Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Co on Thursday said they have settled a decade-old dispute related to a patent infringement case with the two companies withdrawing several pending proceedings from various courts and fora.

In separate regulatory filings, the two companies said they have entered into a settlement agreement on Thursday to amicably settle the decade-old dispute related to alleged infringement of Bajaj's patent for digital twin spark plug ignition technology.

The settlement also includes defamation suit against Bajaj Auto filed by TVS Motor and other related proceedings filed against each other, which were pending before the Madras High Court, Bombay High Court, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, Chennai, and courts in Sri Lanka and Mexico, the statements added.

"Both, TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto have mutually agreed to withdraw the pending proceedings and release each other from all liabilities, claims, demands and actions in respect of the pending proceedings," they said.

As part of the settlement, none of them are required to pay any compensation or penalty to the other as part of the said settlement, they added.

In September 2007, Bajaj Auto had accused TVS Motor of infringing its patent on DTS-i (acronym for digital twin spark plug ignition) when the later launched its motorcycle model Flame 125cc that had controlled combustion variable timing intelligent (CC-VTi) technology.

Bajaj Auto had claimed that TVS' CCVTi technology was a copy of its DTS-i technology, which it uses in various products including the Pulsar series of bikes.

TVS, however, has denied Bajaj Auto's allegations and had slapped a Rs 250-crore defamation suit against the rival. The case had reached all the way to the Supreme Court.