Yes and no, it seems. Well, yes and then no, if recent French decisions are anything to go by. In short, Hesitations Blues reign. This attitude is all the more interesting given that the question, which arose more especially in the FINGOLIMOD case, has been raised before several European courts, all of which are opposed…
My British colleague has already commented brilliantly on the UK ruling in this case from the point of view of plausibility (see here). For my part, I’d like to comment the French ruling in the same case, which takes the opposite view to the UK decision. We shall see that the French position is particularly…
“One person’s happiness is another person’s misfortune” (i.e., “le bonheur des uns fait le malheur des autres”)… This French proverb could easily be applied to the subject I’m dealing with today: conflicts between UPCA and national laws, which will undoubtedly be a joy for legal Counsels and a misfortune of the system’s users, mostly because…
Here we are (at last), the UPC has opened its doors to claimants. Attorneys-at-Law before national Courts, like European patent attorneys, can now bear the new title of “UCP Representative” and thus exercise a new function of representative before UPC. This raises a number of questions for them. Like my colleagues, I have been consulted…
Many readers of this blog are familiar with the French saisie-contrefaçon, which consists of the seizure of allegedly infringing products and all related documents, but requires a writ of summons within one month of the saisie (e.g., here). Few of the same readers have probably heard of the protective seizure (“saisie conservatoire”), which allows similar…
February 1st, 2023, the French Supreme Court (“Cour de Cassation”) ascertained that during a saisie-contrefaçon trade secrets can only be protected by a temporary sequestration provided for in the order authorizing the saisie. Teoxane (“Teoxane”) is the owner of a European patent, the revocation of which Laboratoires Vivacy (“Vivacy”) sought by a summons filed on…
Although the sunrise period starts today, the UPC remains in the shadows for the moment. Thus, it seemed appropriate to me, in the meantime, to try to bring some light by interviewing 5 French judges who will participate in the new Court. Many thanks to the judges who accepted my invitation: Ms. Florence Butin (President…
“Jamais deux sans trois”. The French Supreme Court (“Cour de Cassation”) has issued no less than seven decisions relating to SPCs on February 1st, 2023. After having reported the two relating to the interpretation of article 3 a) of the SPC Regulation last week (nivolumab and pembrolizumab cases), I will report today a decision rendered…
In two decisions rendered on February 1st, 2023, the French Supreme Court (“Cour de cassation”) overturned the decisions of the Paris Court of Appeal which had confirmed the rejections by the French PTO (“INPI”) of the supplementary protection certificate (“SPC”) applications for nivolumab and pembrolizumab. On this occasion, the Supreme Court clarified the interpretation of…
In two decisions rendered on January 11, 2023, the French Supreme Court (“Cour de cassation”) ruled for the third time in almost 50 years on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. As we will see, in doing so the Supreme Court seems to follow the “Hitachi” approach used at the European Patent Office in this field….
