During examination poor quality drawings had been replaced by drawings that made more details visible. The opponent argued that replacement of these drawings by the original drawings, to overcome Article 123(2) objections, extended the scope of protection (Article 123(3)). The board concluded that the skilled person remained clearly able to determine what was protected, because…
Cost reductions obtained by introducing the Unitary Patent package should not be nullified by the setting of renewal fees at a high level. This would amount to the patent offices ‘clawing back’ the savings obtained instead of passing them on to innovating businesses. Lucía Caudet, spokeswoman for the European Commission told this in an interview…
There has been an explosion of anti-trust cases at the EC, which is of concern to the Deputy Director for Antitrust (European Commission) Cecilio Madero Villarejo. Some of these cases involve non-EU companies. It is the view of the EC that IPRs can be exercised in a way which falls foul of competition principles. He…
The Unitary Patent and the UPC in Practice Paul England (Taylor Wessing) described the infringement position under the UPC Agreement and the UP Regulation (1257/2012). He explained that there was concern that the UP Regulation infringement provisions would be referable to the CJEU which was seen as undesirable and these were replaced with Article 5(3). This…
A View from the Task Force and the Judiciary The topic of injunctions under the UPCA was raised by Johannes Karcher (Head of the Task Force, EU Patent and Unified Patent Court, Germany) with particular focus on the discretion of the Court by a rule specifying the Court ‘may’ provisionally grant an injunction (an interim…
The crucial decision of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on Spain’s objections to the Unitary Patent Package will be delivered on 5 May 2015. The date was published on the CJEU’s website earlier this week. The decision could remove what is widely seen as the last major stumbling block for the creation of the…
I am happy to announce the release of my book US Patent Law for European Patent Professionals. An understanding of US patent law within the context of the US legal system has become increasingly important for patent professionals in Europe in recent decades. Europe and the US are closely linked economic zones, and many inventions…
The European business sector and the European Commission have voiced concern about the level of the renewal fees for the Unitary Patent, as proposed by the European Patent Office (EPO). The two EPO proposals for the fee level, often designated as the ‘Top 4 model’ and ‘Top 5 model’ have been discussed on the Kluwer…
A first review of the EPO’s proposals for the EP-UE renewal fees in comparison to the current rates by Thorsten Bausch and Greg Sach The EPO, or more specifically the president of the EPO, has recently submitted proposals for the level of renewal fees for the future European Patent with Unitary Effect (EP-UE) to the…
Once the Unified Patent Court has started functioning, local divisions may have to consolidate into regional divisions or shut down altogether, because it turns out they have too few cases to prosper. That is the expectation of Richard Vary, head of litigation of Nokia. At the Unitary Patent Package Conference in Amsterdam last February, Vary…
