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EPO communications under Rule 161(1) and Rule 162 EPC are among those legal changes which entered into force on April 1, 2010 and are intended for realigning the European patent grant procedure. However, these communications and their legal framework seem to require considerable realignment, for several reasons. In an actual case, the EPO issues a…
The G3/08 opinion concerns the long-awaited view of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) on the patentability of computer programs. The EBoA examined various issues regarding Article 112(1)(b) EPC. The EBoA held that positions taken in T1173/97 and T424/03 were clearly contradictory on the question whether it makes a difference whether a computer program is…
The Board considered whether the introduction of the EPC 2000 raised the requirements for a notice of appeal to be admissible. Rule 99(1)(c) EPC 2000 requires that the notice of appeal contains ‘a request defining the subject of the appeal’. Rule 64 EPC 1973 required that the notice of appeal contains a statement identifying ‘the…
Schütz owned two patents relating to the field of intermediate bulk containers or ‘IBCs’, which are large plastic bottles contained in cages and used to transport hazardous liquids. Schütz objected to Werit’s sales of bottles to a company called Delta since Delta incorporated Werit’s bottles into Schütz’s second hand cages. The key question in the…
Since 01.04.2010 an applicant of a European patent application must respond to the search opinion drawn up by the search division as if it was a communication of the examining division (see new Rule 70a EPC). The applicant is requested to correct any deficiencies of the patent application noted in the search opinion. However, in…
The divergences of solutions which can exist between the various national courts with respect to the various national designations of the same European patent could become a major obstacle to the circulation of the Euro banknotes throughout all Europe. The national designation of European patent EP 0 455 750, the holder of which – Document Security System – claims that it is infringed by the Euro banknotes, is held valid in Germany, Holland and Spain but invalid in Belgium, the UK, Austria and France. The invalidity is affirmed in France by the 17 March 2010 decision of the Cour d’Appel of Paris.
In a judgment of 11 December 2009, the Commercial Court of Antwerp invalidated the Belgian part of EP 0 663 828 of Sepracor for lack of inventive step. This patent claims the use of the active substance levociterizine, an enantiomer which is used for the treatment of allergic rhinitis and asthma, and commercialized as “Xysal”. …
German courts (and German attorneys) have been quite creative to improve the position of the patentee in litigation in the past. Last year the Olanzapine- decision of the Appeals Court in Düsseldorf, which rendered a preliminary injunction although the patent had been previously nullified by the Federal Patent Court, has caused a sensation in the…
One of the topics most hotly discussed before the Spanish Courts over the last few years is whether the legal effects of the TRIPS‘ provisions on patents are governed by Community law or by the national law of each Member State. The debate was sparked in 2003, when a German manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals filed…
The “nail-Byting” in the Computer IP community came to an end on 12 May 2010 when the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal finally handed down its opinion in the “Programs for Computers” case. The opinion is about 4 questions which were referred to the EBA by the President (Ms. Brimelow) under Article 112(1)(b). The decision…
