The smartphone forum wars still show no sign of abating with another application for an expedited patent revocation action before the English Court (ZTE v Ericsson [2011] EWHC 2709 (Pat)), following closely on the heels of the HTC v Apple case that we reported on last month (judgment dated 19 September 2011; post dated 6…
The English High Court has refused to grant summary judgment to LG Electronics in relation to validity of certain patents, holding that, due to the uncertainty of the legal issue concerning the confidentiality of the prior disclosure relied on, the matter was not relevant for summary judgment. LG Electronics (“LG”) sued Sony for infringement of…
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…
As previously report on this blog (29 June 2011), on 20 June 2011 Floyd J. granted an ex parte interim injunction, sometimes called a “temporary restraining order” preventing Teva UK Limited (and two distributors, “Phoneix” and “AAH”) from advertising, offering for sale, selling or supplying its generic atorvastatin product (sold by Pfizer under the brand…
In October 2009, we reported the UK Court of Appeal’s referral to the European Court of Justice (as it was then known) regarding the meaning of the term ‘the first authorisation to place the product on the market’ referred to in Article 13(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) 1768/92 (the “Regulation”) concerning the creation of a…
In the recent case of Cephalon v Orchid [2011] EWHC 1591, the UK Court held that three patents relating to the drug modafinil, used to treat sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, were not infringed and were invalid for obviousness. Previously in this case the court had refused to grant an interim injunction despite the failure…
On 20 June 2011, Floyd J. granted a temporary restraining order preventing restraining Teva UK Limited (and two distribution companies, “Phoenix” and “AAH”) from advertising, offering for sale, selling or supplying its generic atorvastatin pending full hearing of the Warner-Lambert’s application for an interim injunction, listed for 11 July 2011. Warner-Lambert (a subsidiary of Pfizer…
The Hargreaves Review, or to refer to it by its official title, “A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth” by Professor Ian Hargreaves, was commissioned by the UK coalition government in 2010 to report on various issues pertaining to intellectual property with a particular focus on copyright, particularly in the online environment, as well as…
In the recent case of Merck v Teva (decision of 8 April [2011] EWCA Civ 382), the English Court of Appeal confirmed that when considering the question of inventive step in light of prior art, it did not matter that the prior art was published only a few days before the priority date of a…
As previously discussed, the English Court of Appeal has clearly stated its support for judicial collaboration facilitating de facto harmonisation of patent law in Europe (Grimme Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH v Scott [2010] EWCA Civ 1110). However, in a recent decision in the English Patents Court (Lundbeck v Norpharma and Infosint [2011] EWHC 907), Floyd J. expressed…
