(Cross-border) jurisdiction, (Indirect) infringement, France, Mechanical Engineering, Netherlands, Procedure

(Véron & Associés)/

The Swiss company Bobst (hereinafter referred to as “Bobst”) is the holder of European patent No. 1 170 228 relating to a “device for controlling the means for feeding sheets in a machine”. After having had a saisie-contrefaçon carried out on 17 December 2007 in Fellmann Cartonnages’ premises in Soultz, in Haut Rhin (French administrative division), Bobst served a summons…

United Kingdom

(Bristows)/

The smartphone wars appear to be continuing unabated in much of the developed world. In July 2011, Apple commenced infringement proceedings against HTC in Germany in respect of three patents (two in Munich and one in Mannheim). HTC responded in August 2011 by initiating proceedings in the English Patents Court seeking to revoke the corresponding…

Enforcement, Procedure, Switzerland

(MLL Legal Ltd.)/

The gentle reader of this blog knows that on January 1, 2012 the new Federal Patent Court will take up work in Switzerland. As Switzerland’s court of first instance in matters dealing with patents, the Federal Patent Court will rule on civil-law disputes concerning patents. It will rule, for instance, on litigation over patent validity…

(Indirect) infringement, Chemical Engineering, France, Procedure

(Véron & Associés)/

Vetrotech Saint-Gobain (International) (hereinafter referred to as “Vetrotech”) is the holder of European patent No. 0 620 781 designating France, filed on 5 August 1993 and granted on 19 May 1999, entitled “Light-transparent heat-protection element”, and concerning the field of fire-protection glass and its manufacturing process. Suspecting Interver Sécurité (hereinafter referred to as “Interver”) of manufacturing and marketing in France the glass…

European Union, Opposition, Spain, Validity

(Clifford Chance)/

As the readers will know, the complex architecture of the European patent system allows third parties to challenge the validity of a patent by filing an opposition before the European Patent Office (“EPO”), by filing a revocation action before national Courts, or by using both routes. In some cases, this has given rise to the…

Enforcement, European Union

(Hoffmann Eitle)/

The Proposal for a New Regulation on Customs Action of May 2011 is presently under discussion in a Council Working Group. Among other topics, in particular the new right to be heard, the limitation of simplified procedures to counterfeit and pírated goods, the new procedure for the destruction of goods in small consignments, the incorporation of topography rights into the Regulation, the handling of goods in transit and the structure of the new Regulation will probably need further clarification.The end of discussions is presently not to foresee.

Case Law, Denmark, Enforcement, Injunction

(Bugge Valentin)/

The Danish Supreme Court upheld the Maritime and Commercial Court’s decision revoking an injunction against Teva issued by the Danish High Court. The Supreme Court ruled that a condition for the grant of an injunction is that it is “established or rendered probable” that the defendant will carry out the exact actions which are sought…

(Indirect) infringement, Case Law, Inventive step, Netherlands, Novelty

(Brinkhof)/

Contrary to the decision of the Opposition Division issued two weeks later, the District Court of The Hague held Novozymes’ patent to be novel and inventive. It also held the patent indirectly infringed. The court held that a literal disclosure of a claim feature in the prior art does not necessarily equate to a directly…

Biologics, Case Law, SPC, Switzerland

(Brinkhof)/

The Federal Institute of Intellectual Property can also issue a supplementary protection certificate to an applicant if a certificate for the same active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) or combination thereof has already been granted to a third person. By interpreting the law in that way – only restricting the grant of a certificate for the same…