Mumbai, Oct. 24: Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic is preparing to start legal proceedings to stop several airlines, including Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways, from using its patented herringbone seats in their business class.

Virgin plans to launch a suit against Contour, a boutique designer of seats based in Wales, which had originally designed the unique seating configuration in 2003.

“We are taking legal action against Contour for breaching our patents. We have invested about £50 million to devise this seating configuration for our esteemed upper class travellers. Jet Airways has already dressed its premier class with the same seating design,” Paul Charles, director, communications at Virgin Atlantic Airways, told The Telegraph over phone from London.

Airlines are locked in a cut-throat battle for business class passengers and Virgin is determined to protect its patent-backed advantage.

Virgin has two patents to cover the shape and configuration of the seats — and it is determined to stop others from using it. Till date, it has licensed the herringbone design to only Air New Zealand.

“Our lawyers are in an advanced stage of filing the case. The hearing is likely to be scheduled in 2008,” Charles said.

Jet Airways sources in Mumbai refused to comment on the latest development.

Contour rigged out six B-777s and four Airbus A-330s in Jet Airways’ fleet with the herringbone seats. These planes fly to London, Brussels, Toronto, New York and Newark in the US.

The seat designer also struck deals with Delta and Air Canada for the supply of similarly-designed seats.

A spokesman for Contour said the firm would contest any suit filed by Virgin.

“We manufactured seats for Jet Airways towards the end of last year. Jet installed these seats in its business premier class in May. The herringbone-shaped seats that were supplied by Contour to Jet Airways had different specifications from the ones that were built for Virgin Atlantic in 2003. We have not breached any intellectual property rights. We have strong evidence against the claims made by Virgin Atlantic,” Contour’s official spokesperson said.

Most airlines have seats in the upper classes that extend into flat beds. The Virgin design provides the passenger with a luxury leather armchair to relax in at the start of a flight. It then flips over into a separate bed with a mattress. The chair morphs into a bed at the touch of a button.

The herringbone design is the first product in the airline industry that offers every passenger direct access to the aisle.