How long should proceedings before the EPO ideally take? Admittedly, this is a tricky question because various stakeholders will usually have different interests and thoughts as to what the “right” or “ideal” speed is. Let us tackle this question by beginning with a simple distinction. I posit that the answer depends considerably on whether the…
The Federal Court of Justice held that the defence of the patent in suit on the basis of claims filed only at the appeal stage as an auxiliary request can nevertheless be considered to be expedient if the Patent Court had only informed the Defendant in the oral proceedings that it no longer intended to…
Christmas is the time of good wishes. Here is my personal wishlist. 1. Peace! 2. That we all consent that there is human dignity and that it is inviolable and independent of race, colour, origin, gender and language. And that we act accordingly and acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every…
The appeal court is not prevented from denying the credibility of a witness affirmed in the first instance court if there are concrete indications that raise doubts about the correctness and completeness of the relevant findings of fact and if therefore the facts have to be appraised anew, but if the witness has passed away…
1. History One of the most precious achievements that Europe inherited from England is the so-called Rule of Law, dating back from the days of James I who ruled the union of the Scottish and English crowns from 1603 until his death in 1625. The key parts of this model is that laws are made…
On Sunday, 2.10.2016, the Guardian wrote: Controlling immigration would be the key basis for departure, May said. The government would seek access to the EU’s single market if possible, she said, adding: “But let me be clear. We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again. And we are…
A technical teaching making use of a discovery, e.g. of a natural law, for achieving a particular result is patent-eligible, irrespective of whether or not it has an “inventive excess” beyond the purposeful exploitation of the natural law. A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.
The German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) recently issued a second decision in a nullity lawsuit revolving around a windscreen for vehicles (Fahrzeugscheibe II, X ZR 41/14). While the first decision dealt with interesting questions regarding the transferability of the right to priority, the second one treads more conventional paths, yet it still contains a…
No, this is not another blog about the Brexit, even though the current figures of the EU referendum polls in the UK make this author wonder how it comes that cooperation and European harmonization is so uncontroversial and successful in the field of intellectual property, yet apparently so controversial and difficult in other fields. Perhaps…
Let’s begin with the German statute and compare it with the EPC. Section 34 of the German Patent Act (GPA) stipulates the following: (3) An application shall contain: 1. the name of the applicant; 2. a request for the grant of a patent, in which the invention shall be clearly and concisely designated; 3. one…
