Damages enquiries in patent cases rarely make it to trial, let alone to the Court of Appeal, so this judgment provides important guidance on the assessment of damages for patent (and by extension other IP rights) infringement. Background Anan Kasei is the proprietor of a patent to high surface area cerium oxide, a catalyst…
The news was announced last week: Moderna is suing Pfizer for infringement of two of its patents related to Covid-19 vaccines. These highly targeted actions are likely to spread to many other countries: here is a brief overview of the case and its potential French perspective. In a press release dated August 26, 2022, Moderna…
In September 2021, Brazilian Congress passed a law changing the compulsory licensing landscape as a political answer to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially, Congress wanted to include new possibilities to issue compulsory license and tried to create a mandatory tech transfer provision that could severely jeopardize companies doing business in Brazil. In view…
On June 17, 2022, WTO members adopted a waiver to the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) allowing suspension of patent related to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is the result of a year and a half of intense debate. Already there is a lot of alarm in the industry about this…
As we begin year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of the Omicron variant has caused many workers, who had returned to the office during summer and fall 2021, to revert to working from home. This trend has further increased speculation that remote working arrangements will become more widespread, even after the pandemic ends,…
The Brazilian President gave his assent to the bill introducing new rules on the compulsory licensing of patents, which facilitates the compulsory licensing of COVID-19 vaccines’ patents. The Brazilian President vetoed, however, certain key provisions of the bill, including paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 of the amended Article 71 of the Brazilian Industrial Property Act…
Almost ten months after India and South Africa sparked the debate on the protection of intellectual property rights with the TRIPS COVID-19 Waiver (IP/C/W/669), there is still no consensus at the TRIPS Council in favour of any action. Despite the support of numerous other WTO Members, including the United States, the TRIPS COVID-19 Waiver still…
As many readers will already know, two new full-time Patents Judges have been appointed to the English Court in the last 9 months – Meade and Mellor JJ. Despite the challenges that the global pandemic has brought, the English Patents Court has coped remarkably well and there has been no let-up in the progress of…
Although he pronounced against the IP Waiver on 23 April, French President Emmanuel Macron declared having changed his mind on 6 May, following the US administration’s surprising decision on 5 May. These contradictory statements have rekindled the controversy over the IP waiver, which is a wrong path that distracts the debate from the real issue:…
While pressure is building up on TRIPS Council for the suspension of certain obligations under the TRIPS Agreement during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brazilian Senate approved on 29 April 2021 a bill facilitating the compulsory licensing of COVID-19 vaccines’ patents. The bill will be voted by the Brazilian House of Representatives and, if approved, it…
