Diving into the labyrinth of intertwined dreams in Christopher Nolan’s Inception—where each dream level operates under its own rules while influencing the others—sharply illuminates the intricate structure of the European patent litigation system. Within this evolving landscape, patent holders are granted procedural freedom: during the transitional phase of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), they may…
Like Corto Maltese charting forgotten seas, the UK now sails through uncertain waters in the shifting landscape of European patent litigation. Brexit did not bring about a complete rupture but rather a complex reconfiguration of balances and strategies. Caught between aspirations for strengthened judicial sovereignty and a European reality structured without it, the UK is…
Yesterday, I shared some early figures from the UPC Court of Appeal, offering a glimpse into how the Court operates two years after its launch. But those reflections lingered long after I closed my laptop. They kept me up — long enough to return to a thornier, more theoretical question that has remained unresolved since…
Introduction: A Concert Interrupted Imagine a Rammstein concert—tight rhythms, explosive precision, and overwhelming power. That’s what many expected from the German divisions of the UPC: efficiency, control, and dominance. But two years into the life of the Court of Appeal, that expectation has begun to unravel. What we see instead is a more nuanced performance—less…
The Court of Appeal’s judgment in Optis Cellular Technology LLC v Apple Retail UK Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 552, handed down on 1 May 2025, is arguably the most significant UK FRAND decision since Unwired Planet v Huawei. It not only overturns the High Court’s FRAND determination but re-establishes the centrality of a comparables-based approach…
In the UK, as well as in many other countries, being the first to market with a generic or biosimilar to a leading branded medicine is a critical strategy that can offer a major advantage to a company in a highly competitive landscape. Being the first company to launch a generic product has several advantages. …
In a decision rendered on 12 June 2024, the full chamber of the private law division (‘Segunda Seção’) of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice ruled that state courts may decide on the validity of patents when the validity is put in issue by way of defence in civil proceedings for infringement (EREsp 1.332.417/RS). The…
Background In June 2024, we reported that in an application for provisional measures brought by Abbott Diabetes Care against Sibio Technology, The Hague Local Division (“LD”) determined, inter alia, that it had competence for Ireland, in the sense that it could grant a PI extending to Ireland under European patent validated in that country. In…
A recent decision from Joanna Smith J dealing with the costs of a withdrawn application in a case before the English Patents Court contains an important postscript and suggests that the rules in the Patents Court Guide regarding the lodging and filing of skeleton arguments need to be revisited. All English patent litigators, and many…
On 15 July 2024, the High Court of England and Wales handed down its decision ([2024] EWHC 1815 (Ch)) in the jurisdiction challenge in Telsa’s case against InterDigital and Avanci which considers a request for declaratory relief in relation to the FRAND terms for a patent pool licence that includes SEPs owned by multiple proprietors. …
