Non-Practicing Entity (NPE)
On 17 March 2020,The Hague Court of Appeal dismissed a preliminary injunction (PI) based on alleged infringement of a Standard Essential Patent (SEP) held by a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) based on a balancing of interests – without assessment of validity and infringement of the patent in suit, and without assessment of FRAND-related obligations. In case…
Activities of Patent assertion entities (PAEs) in Europe are increasing dramatically and are encouraged by the Rules of Procedure of the upcoming Unified Patent Court, especially the possibility to obtain an EU wide injunction. This is argued by Intellectual Property 2 Innovate (IP2I), a coalition made up with nine companies ‘that create innovative products and…
In Germany, the winning party is able to recover a significant amount of its costs from the losing party. This cost reimbursement, which is based on a statutory fee schedule, depends on the value of the case. The amount of recoverable fees can be quite significant; the maximum in infringement proceedings would be around slightly…
Since the UK announced it wants to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement despite the Brexit vote (last week the new IP minister of the UK, Jo Johnson, repeated the announcement of his predecessor Baroness Neville-Rolfe), preparations for the system have restarted in full, despite the fact that a British membership brings about uncertainty. Prof….
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board properly found during inter partes review (IPR) that two claims of a patent directed to a mechanism for controlling the operation of a downhole drill string were invalid as anticipated by a prior art reference, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has decided. The court rejected…
1. History One of the most precious achievements that Europe inherited from England is the so-called Rule of Law, dating back from the days of James I who ruled the union of the Scottish and English crowns from 1603 until his death in 1625. The key parts of this model is that laws are made…
Protecting companies’ confidential business and technical information – “trade secrets” – is becoming a major priority of the private sector and governments around the world. For good reason: one in five European companies has been the victim of trade secret misappropriation, or attempts at misappropriation, at least once in the past 10 years, and for…
On Sunday, 2.10.2016, the Guardian wrote: Controlling immigration would be the key basis for departure, May said. The government would seek access to the EU’s single market if possible, she said, adding: “But let me be clear. We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again. And we are…
The Federal Supreme Court just handed down a long-expected judgment on the prerequisites under which a plaintiff has to provide a collateral for legal expenses. The result may encourage further trolls to use the German litigation system. Background Under Sec. 110 German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), a person who files a civil suit in…
Although patent litigation in Europe is fragmented, businesses have been able to cope and a unitary system may not be strictly necessary for the patent system to function in Europe. However, the new UPC does represent an opportunity to improve the system via greater efficiency and consistency. Dr Luke McDonagh of the Law School at…
