Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Two/Three Wheelers Corporate - Interview Marketing - IPR TVS Motor — learning a key lesson Rahul (Bajaj) and I have a 30-year-long friendship. We both have signalled to each other that we are not going to let this (case) affect it. — Mr Venu Srinivasan, CMD, TVS Motor. 
Mr Venu Srinivasan, CMD, TVS Motor M. Ramesh
Chennai, Feb. 26 The TVS Motor Company’s Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Venu Srinivasan, says that the key lesson the company learnt in this case was that in India, where the patent regime is “still in its infancy”, it is necessary to take all precautions against infringement litigations, “no matter how robust your case is.” In his first conversation with journalists after the single judge of the Madras High Court held that TVS Motor had infringed on a Bajaj patent for a type of motorcycle engine, Mr Srinivasan said the company was shocked over the judgment because “we never expected we will lose the case”. The company has gone on an appeal and has readied a plan to roll out the 125cc Flame motorcycle with an engine with a single spark plug. Now in a breezy and what-next mood, he looks at the case with sardonic amusement. Bajaj getting a patent for the use of two spark plugs in the cylinder, he says, “is like me saying that I have a patent for pneumatic tyres”. “I was talking to somebody in Honda (the inventor of the twin spark plug technology). “He said, only in your country something like this can happen.” Yet, there was some serious questions and answering. TVS Motor may believe that the grant of a patent to Bajaj for an ‘already-in-existence” technology was flawed. Nevertheless, Bajaj has a patent and TVS did want to use an engine with two spark plugs in it. Infringement or no? The matter is to be decided by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, where TVS Motor has filed a petition for revocation of the patent. The normal course of action would have been to allow TVS to sell its vehicles and, should the patents appellate body hold that TVS had infringed, the company could always be asked to compensate Bajaj. After all, in the automobile industry, “there are records for every single unit sold, unlike, say, for hydrogen peroxide”. Therefore, calculation of compensation is not difficult and, hence, “balance of convenience lies with us.” Bajaj got its patent in 2003. TVS Motor filed the petition for revocation only in mid-2007. Why did it take so long? Back then, TVS Motor had just got disengaged from Suzuki and had no patents. TVS Motor now wants to introduce the Flame motorcycle with a single spark engine. The critical factor in the Flame engine is the presence of a third valve, not the second spark plug. The engine with a single spark plug, according to him, will just as well — the twin spark plug engine has only marginal advantages over the single spark plug engine. Why did TVS Motor wait until the judgment was delivered to introduce the vehicle with a single spark plug? Could it not have done it earlier, and avoided the Rs 120-crore estimated loss of sales? First, the company was sure that it would win the case and as such, there was no need to incur the additional tooling costs for a different engine. About a month into the litigation, it decided to have a stand-by engine, just in case. It takes about eight weeks to tool-up for a new engine. Relationship with Bajaj? Rahul (Bajaj) and I have a 30-year-long friendship. We both have signalled to each other that we are not going to let this (case) affect it. Has the TVS Motor image taken a beating? Not at all. People want to buy a good motorcycle, not spark plugs. In fact, the publicity generated by the case will only help the company. TVS may have a stand-by engine for Flame HC restrains TVS from launching Flame motorcycle Twin spark plug ignited controversy More Stories on : Two/Three Wheelers | Interview | IPR
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