Infringement is unauthorized application of the claimed invention, e.g. by trading in a product that falls within the scope of the claims of a patent. Actively inducing, encouraging or materially contributing to the infringing activity may – in some jurisdictions – also constitute indirect infringement. Infringement by inducement and contributory infringement are two types of indirect patent infringement, recognized in the U.S. In Europe indirect infringement generally relates to the (offer to) supply a means essential to the invention.
On 20 January 2012 the Court of Appeal in England heard the case of Apimed Medical Honey v Brightwake Limited [2012] EWCA Civ 5. Apimed owned European Patent (UK) 1,237,561 (‘the Patent’) for an invention of “Medical dressings comprising gelled honey” and this was held invalid for obviousness at first instance in the Patent’s County…
In 1984, the claimant filed an application for an agricultural crop spraying device which by the use of compressed air was intended to offer a more efficient means of dispensing the liquid. In 1986, the claimant sent a copy of the application to the defendant and in 1989 the claimant alleged having noticed that the…
The recent judgment from the ECJ of 24 November 2011 in case C-322/10 (“Medeva”) has surprised the patent community, since the ECJ appears to have changed the view expressed in its judgment of 16 September of 1999 in case C-392/97 (“Farmitalia”), where the Court declared that it was not for the ECJ, but for national…
As stated already in one my earlier posts (here), Legislative Decree no. 131/2010 has introduced a new procedural tool in the Italian IP litigation scenario. New Art. 128 of the Italian IP Code now allows the conduction of a Preliminary Technical Assessment (PTA). In practice, as an alternative to commencing ordinary proceedings or preliminary injunction…
by Bernward Zollner rospatt osten pross In two decisions of May and September 2011 the Appeal Court Düsseldorf had to comment on various issues concerning the accounting and determination of patent infringer’s profit. In the decision of May 2011 it is stated that an obligation of defend-ant to amend or specify an accounting cannot be…
On 8 December 2011, the presiding judge of the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris has rendered an order in the context of the worldwide battle between Samsung and Apple. Samsung alleged that Apple’s iPhones 4S contain chips infringing its European patents No. 1 188 269 and 1 097 516, declared essential to the UMTS standard within the framework of ETSI (European…
The German company Hewlett-Packard GmbH (hereinafter referred to as Hewlett-Packard) was granted on 31 March 1993 the European patent EP 0 309 596, entitled “pumping apparatus for delivering liquid at high pressure”. Under an assignment contract dated 29 October 1999, registered in the French Patent Register on 21 August 2000, the German company Agilent Technologies Deutschland GmbH (hereinafter referred to as Agilent) became the…
We revisit this case, not this time regarding the question of what constitutes the ‘making’ of an invention as resolved by the Court of Appeal in March 2011, but with regards to the question of costs in relation to Schütz as an exclusive licensee. The general position under English law is if an exclusive licence…
Preliminary injunctions in patent disputes can be a very effective weapon to fight against free riders on the one hand but are equally hurtful for defendants being at-tacked unjustifiably on the other hand. Such preliminary injunctions, especially when granted on an ex parte basis, can simply hinder the defendant to conduct business on the market….
The Court of Appeal dismissed Krka’s appeal against a decision of the Oslo Court of Enforcement and Execution, which granted AstraZeneca a preliminary injunction preventing Krka from marketing its generic esomeprazole product in Norway. The Court of Appeal held that the esomeprazole salt in Krka’s generic product with an optical purity of 98,8-99,4% was “an…
