Litigation

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…

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…

FRAND, Litigation, Patents, SEP, United Kingdom

, (Bristows)/

As many readers will know, Apple and Optis have been engaged in international litigation concerning Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) since 2019. On 26 February 2019, Optis filed an action against Apple in the English Patents Court for infringement of the GB designations of eight European Patents.  Following a finding that at least one of Optis’…

France, Litigation, Unitary Patent, UPC

(Dhenne Avocats)/ /6 Comments

Here we are (at last), the UPC has opened its doors to claimants. Attorneys-at-Law before national Courts, like European patent attorneys, can now bear the new title of “UCP Representative” and thus exercise a new function of representative before UPC. This raises a number of questions for them. Like my colleagues, I have been consulted…

Case Law, Inventive step, Litigation, Patents, Pharmaceutical patent, Plausibility, Sufficiency of disclosure, United Kingdom, Validity

(Bristows)/ /2 Comments

On 4 May 2023, a mere two weeks after the conclusion of the hearing, the Court of Appeal handed down its decision in Sandoz and Teva v BMS. The appeal decision is centred on the question of plausibility and comes hot on the heels of the Enlarged Board of Appeal’s decision in G 2/21. Indeed,…

Added matter, Amendments, Case Law, Infringement, Litigation, Patents, Pharma, Pharmaceutical patent, Plausibility, Revocation, Sufficiency of disclosure, United Kingdom, Validity

, , (Bristows)/

On 21 March 2023, Meade J gave a bumper judgment in the revocation action brought by Gilead in respect of two of NuCana’s patents from the same family (EP (UK) 2 955 190 and EP (UK) 3 904 365, the “Patents”), which relate to nucleoside analogues.   Filling 102 pages, the judgment raises a number of…

Germany, Litigation, Trade secrets

(Arnold Ruess)/

It is now almost a year since the new confidentiality regime for patent disputes in Germany entered into force. Since then, confidentiality requests have become a standard procedure in German patent litigation. Courts and counsel have translated the legal requirements into manageable routines. The Munich Regional Court even published guidance on how to proceed with…

Case Law, Litigation, United Kingdom

, (Bristows)/

A number of recent decisions have highlighted the risks that can arise from the practice of supplying draft judgments to litigants and their advisers under an embargo. The courts have made it clear that a breach of embargo is to be treated seriously, and failure to comply with an embargo may result in proceedings for…

(Cross-border) jurisdiction, (Indirect) infringement, Enforcement, Equivalents, Infringement, Injunction, Litigation, Netherlands, Pharma

(Brinkhof)/ /3 Comments

Everything flows, and the Dutch cross-border injunction flows like no other. From its source in the The Hague all the way to the cradle of Europe: Greece. So decided the Dutch Courts in the Novartis vs. Pharmathen case. The willingness of the Dutch Courts to assume jurisdiction to grant cross-border relief in international patent cases…

Denmark, Enforcement, Generics, Infringement, Injunction, Litigation, Patents, Pharma, Pharmaceutical patent, Utility model

(Bugge Valentin)/ /4 Comments

In an appeal of a PI decision, the Danish Eastern High Court has ruled to uphold the dismissal of Novartis’ application for a preliminary injunction against Glenmark, Zentiva, and Viatris, based on the European patent application 2 959 894. In its decision, the Court firmly stated that a preliminary injunction can only be issued based…