Countries

Read all the (latest) blogs from:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, EPC, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America

Case Law, Equivalents, Infringement, Litigation, Patents, Procedure, Technology, Trade secrets, United Kingdom

(Bristows)/

Introduction On 17 July 2023, the English Court of Appeal handed down its decision in a dispute between J.C. Bamford (JCB) and Manitou about the confidentiality of information disclosed in the course of litigation between JCB and Manitou relating to the validity and infringement of certain of JCB’s patents.  At the heart of the confidentiality…

France, Pharma, Plausibility, Priority right

(Dhenne Avocats)/ /2 Comments

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…

Case Law, Litigation, Patents, Prior art, Revocation, United Kingdom, Validity

, (Bristows)/ /1 Comment

On 18 July 2023, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Vernacare Limited v Moulded Fibre Products Limited [2023] EWCA Civ 841, an appeal from the decision of Nicholas Caddick QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court). The Court of Appeal, with Sir Christopher Floyd giving…

France, Unitary Patent, UPC

(Dhenne Avocats)/ /13 Comments

“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…

Case Law, Pharma, Prior art, United States of America

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/

The combination of two well-known high blood pressure medicines did not result in unexpected patient benefits. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board denying as obvious over prior art an application to patent a method of co-administering two well-known antihypertensive agents to…

European Union, Unitary Patent, UPC

/ /4 Comments

The Administrative Committee of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has unanimously decided to establish a section of the UPC’s Central Division in Milan, as a replacement for London. As the UPC reported: ‘Based on article 87(2) of the Unified Patent Court Agreement the Committee took a decision to amend the Agreement with a view to…

Case Law, Infringement, Spain

(Clifford Chance)/

In a technically complex infringement case, Barcelona Commercial Court no. 1 establishes ad hoc procedural rules for quantification of damages at the enforcement stage. This sheds light on the procedure applicable to follow-on damage quantification proceedings, which are a critical element of enforcement strategy. As such, this case has caught the attention of Spanish patent…

European Union, Unitary Patent, UPC

/ /2 Comments

Three technically qualified judges (TQJ) have resigned prior to the start of operations of the Unified Patent Court. According to a UPC announcement, Roman Maksymiw (DE), Grégoire Desrousseaux (FR) en Kirsikka Etuaho (FI) handed in their resignations received prior to 31 May 2023. The reason is not mentioned, but it is likely it is the…