Reckitt stripped of Indian design by own prior art

In Reckitt Benckiser (India) v Wyeth, the Delhi High Court has clarified that publication of a foreign equivalent design detroys novelty of an Indian design, according to an article by Sudhir Kumar of Aswal Associates. Spicy IP's take on the case is here.

It appears that the court differed from its earlier case law, including Dabur v Jain, in so finding.

The design was Indian RD 193988 for an S-shaped spatula for applying depiliatory cream. The anticipating design appears to have been US D387,629, and its UK priority filing 2055969, both published some 6 years earlier, so it doesn't seem to have been a particularly close call. That spelt the end of the infringement case, alas.

It seems slightly surprising that a large company would file over seven years out of priority and then attempt to enforce the resulting registration, but perhaps I am missing something.