(Indirect) infringement, EPC, Infringement, Injunction, Technology, Unitary Patent, UPC, Validity

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On 27 August 2024, the Munich Local Division awarded a preliminary injunction (‘PI’) in an action brought by Hand Held Products against Scandit for infringement of EP3866051 (“Mobile computer configured to read multiple decodable indicia”) in relation to Scandit’s ‘Data Capture SDK’ software (Order UPC_CFI_74/2024). The Court held that Scandit’s software development kit (SDK) more…

AI, Case Law, Exceptions to patentability, Patents, Technology, United Kingdom

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On 19 July 2024, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Comptroller – General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks v Emotional Perception AI Limited [2024] EWCA Civ 825 following a hearing on 14-15 May 2024. The Court of Appeal judgment overturns the first instance decision of the High Court and upholds the…

(Indirect) infringement, Case Law, Infringement, Injunction, Prior use right, Revocation, Unitary Patent, UPC

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In a decision issued today, the Düsseldorf Local Division has ordered the first ever permanent injunction at the UPC following a hearing on 16 May 2024. The injunction covers seven UPC member states: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. Notably, Germany was not included in the claim. The patent in question in…

Case Law, EPO Decision, Litigation, Patents, Revocation, Unitary Patent, UPC

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On 28 May 2024, the UPC Court of Appeal (in decision UPC_CoA_22/2024) upheld a decision of the Court of First Instance, Central Division (Paris Seat) not to stay revocation proceedings before the UPC pending parallel opposition proceedings before the EPO concerning the same patent.  Following previous Court of Appeal decisions, this non-technical appeal was adjudicated…

Inventive step, Patents, Procedure, United Kingdom, Validity

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Introduction It is common for parties to English patent litigation to settle their differences after the first instance judgment on the merits from the Court.  This is for several reasons including the thoroughness of the Patents Court Judges, the Court of Appeal’s approach to issues such as obviousness (where only an error of principle will…

AI, Case Law, Patents, Technology, United Kingdom

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On 20 December 2023, the UK Supreme Court handed down its highly anticipated judgment in the case of Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks [2023] UKSC 49, unanimously ruling that only a natural person can be named as an inventor on a patent application.  In doing so, the Supreme Court upheld the decisions…

Exceptions to patentability, FRAND, Infringement, Prior art, SEP, United Kingdom

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Nokia v Oppo [2023] EWHC 23 (Pat) In a new development in the global dispute between Nokia and Oppo that spans seven jurisdictions across Europe and Asia, Mr Justice Meade of the English Patents Court has found that smartphone manufacturer Oppo infringes valid and standard essential Nokia 4G/5G patent EP2981103 on an “allocation of preamble…

Case Law, Damages, Litigation, Patents, United Kingdom

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Geofabrics Limited v Fiberweb Geosynthetics Limited [2022] EWHC 2363 (Pat) Geofabrics Limited (“Geofabrics”) has been awarded £13.4 million in damages for patent infringement, concluding a 5 year long dispute with Fiberweb Geosynthetics Limited (“Fiberweb”).  Damages inquiries are rare in the UK so this judgment from Charlotte May KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge),…

(Indirect) infringement, Case Law, Equivalents, Infringement, Inventive step, Patents, Scope of protection, United Kingdom

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Introduction In a ruling by Hacon HHJ on 4 July 2022, [here] the English Patents Court has invalidated three patents belonging to J. C. Bamford (JCB) while finding a fourth valid and infringed by Manitou UK Ltd and its parent company Manitou BF (Manitou).  The judgment followed a six-day trial in November last year. Parallel…