The EPO published its draft Strategic Plan 2023 on 18 April 2019. It has invited all stakeholders to provide their views on the document. Those who want to provide input can do so here. The new consultation will run until 10 May 2019 and the plan is to submit the final plan to the Administrative Council…
In a patent infringement suit brought by Omega Patents against CalAmp Corp. alleging infringement of Omega’s U.S. Patent Nos. 6,346,876 (’876 patent), 6,756,885 (’885 patent), 7,671,727 (’727 patent), and 8,032,278 (’278 patent), the federal district court in Orlando’s judgment of no invalidity of the asserted claims was affirmed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…
The run up to the Easter vacation is always a busy time in the English Patents Court as litigants seek have applications determined to set the direction of travel for the next period of the case and Judges, understandably, try and clear their desks before the break. 2019 was no exception to this rule and…
In our blog of last December, we reported that China has established a new IP Tribunal within the Supreme People’s Court (the “SPC”) as a national IP appellate court akin to the federal circuit in the United States. The new SPC IP Tribunal commenced operation from Jan 1, 2019 in Beijing. Interim Judgment On March…
Last week the Board of Appeal issued a decision holding that Google’s patent application 04784004.6 was unallowable on the ground of lack of inventive step. Amongst other things, the decision contains useful guidance relevant to applications containing a mixture of technical and non-technical subject matter. The take-homes from the decision are as follows: 1. A…
The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) in the UK has harshly criticized the European Patent Office for its handling of the issue of patentability of plants. Last month it published a position paper in which it said measures proposed by the EPO to create clarity undermine legal certainty or are even unlawful. Kluwer IP Law…
The European Parliament has finally adopted the legislation introducing an SPC manufacturing waiver in its last plenary session before the upcoming European elections. The corresponding legislation was endorsed today on 17 April 2019, with 572 votes in favor, 36 votes against, and 22 abstentions. The vote was preceded by a discussion in plenum yesterday late…
A recently published Decision of 9 November 2018 from Barcelona Commercial Court number 5 sheds some light on the indicia that may or may not be sufficient for the purposes of ordering a preliminary injunction “ex parte”. For the readers’ benefit, it will be useful to clarify that under Spanish law, one of the requirements…
The Higher Regional Court of Vienna confirmed the three-factor Bicalutamid/Schneidmesser Test, holding that a variant is equivalent to an invention for the purposes of infringement if the following conditions apply cumulatively: 1 The modified embodiment solves the problem using modified, but objectively equivalent means (equivalent effect); 2 The person skilled in the art is able…
A new trial was granted so a manufacturer accused of infringing the patent can challenge its validity by presenting additional obviousness theories that the district court should not have disallowed. Case date: 29 March 2019 Case number: No. 17-2507 Court: United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit A full summary of this case has been published…
