As explained in our entry UPC: four reasons why the PPA is not legally in force, published on April 21, 2022, one of the collateral damages of Brexit is that the conditions for the entry into force of the “Protocol to the Agreement on a UPC on Provisional Application” (the “PPA”), which included the ratification…
When the European Commission earlier today published the legislative proposals aimed at introducing a unitary SPC to be examined by a central examination procedure, one of the Beatle’s most beautiful songs immediately sprang to mind: The Long and Winding Road. In particular, the European Commission has published several legislative proposals, four of which are relevant…
As most readers will be well aware, Brexit has raised some fundamental issues for the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) project, among which two points stand out. First, that, contrary to what it is envisaged in by Article 7.2 of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (“UPCA”), London will no longer be able to accommodate…
Christmas is a season for rest, family gatherings, warm wishes, hopes and good cheer. These days, children and adults alike may be preparing their wish list for Father Christmas. One of the gifts that patent aficionados are expecting with excitement for 2023 is a clear answer to the questions referred to the EPO Enlarged Board…
The judgment of 17 October 2022 recently handed down by the Patents Section of Barcelona Commercial Court of First Instance no. 4 is most interesting, for a variety of reasons. First, because the hearing of the case lasted for five days (2-5 May and 15 June), a length which is rather unusual in Spanish patent…
As readers are well aware, Directive 2004/48 EC (known as the “Enforcement Directive”), stemming from Part III of the TRIPS Agreement, was meant to introduce a minimum level of intellectual property protection throughout the European Union. For example, article 13 establishes that Member States must guarantee that judicial authorities can order the party found to…
On 17 February 2022, the Administrative Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court handed down a very interesting judgment setting out legal doctrine on the legal value of expert opinions from the Administration in two different scenarios: on the one hand, when they are issued in judicial proceedings between third parties and, on the other, when…
To date, final decisions from the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (“SPTO”) dealing with matters such as patents or supplementary protection certificates (“SPC”) may be appealed before the administrative law chamber of what are known as the Tribunales Superiores de Justicia (“High Courts of Justice”). Although these Courts are highly specialised in public law matters,…
As readers will be well aware, one of the points on which the courts of various European countries diverge, is whether or not the prosecution history of the patent at hand may be taken into account to interpret its scope of protection. For example, the UK Supreme Court, in its landmark judgment of 12 July…
Readers who have followed our last two blog entries and the vast number of comments received, will have seen the following two conclusions surfacing. First, although the UPC ‘s Protocol on Provisional Application, in reality, may not be in force, there is nothing to worry about because there are no police around. Second, there is…
