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In a recent decision (16.5.2012) the Supreme Court in Denmark has ruled on the requirement of creative step that applies to Danish utility models and serves the same purpose as inventive step in respect of patents. The utility model-in-suit had been invalidated by the Danish Patent Office and that decision was upheld by the Maritime…
The presentation of a product at an exhibition within Germany, constitutes use of the shape of the product (protected by trademark law) in the course of trade for advertising purposes, and this is therefore no “offering” or “putting on the market” that product in Germany . Rather, evidence must be provided which shows that the…
When seeking to improve a data structure prescribed in an international standard, the skilled person would consider mechanisms already described in the standard when solving the identified technical problem. If the standard provides a manageable number of possible solutions, each having specific advantages and disadvantages, this provides an incentive to take each of the solutions…
The Danish Maritime and Commercial Court upheld the invalidation (in two administrative instances) of a patent claiming second medical use of a known compound for the treatment of sea lice infestation on the grounds that neither the pathology nor the patient group were novel over the closest prior art. The European sister patent had likewise…
by Bernward Zollner Earlier this year the Ministry of Justice has submitted a bill which intends to grant a better protection to license agreements in case the licensor has to file a motion for the commencement of insolvency proceedings. According to the current statute the liquidator (insolvency administrator) has the right to terminate a license…
In ruling on an application to transfer a passing off and trade mark infringement action from the Patents County Court (PCC) to the High Court, HHJ Birss QC has provided further useful guidance for prospective litigants on use of the PCC as the chosen forum for intellectual property (IP) litigation. The Claimant, Comic Enterprises Limited,…
Last month both the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued important decisions relating to method of use patents in the Hatch-Waxman Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) patent litigation framework. These cases underscore unique aspects of method of use patents in the ANDA context.
Fairly recent case law of the EPO suggests that the concept of individualized disclosure may reach further than many people think. This can have severe implications for the validity of patents and patent applications, especially in the field of chemistry and life sciences. In the following these decisions and their potential consequences are analyzed and…
By decision of 5 April 2012, no. 5497, the Italian Supreme Court resolved an interesting case concerning the application of Article 68 (3) Italian IP Code, according to which “Whoever, in the course of 12 months preceding the filing date of the patent application or its priority date, has made use of the invention in…
The Polish Supreme Administrative Court has recently recognized a contradiction between the decisions of the Polish Patent Office regarding computer-implemented inventions and the practice of the European Patent Office (EPO). However, it is too early to say for certain whether Polish administrative courts have definitely changed their approach to so-called software patents. In a recent…
