Patents

A patent is a document, issued, upon application, by a government office (or a regional office acting for several countries), which describes an invention and creates a legal situation in which the patented invention can normally only be exploited (manufactured, used, sold, imported) with the authorization of the holder of the patent. ‘Invention’ means a solution to a specific problem in the field of technology. An invention may relate to a product or a process. The protection conferred by the patent is limited in time, generally 20 years. In a number of countries, inventions are also protectable through registration of a ‘utility model’ or ‘short-term patent’.

Patents

(RNA Law)/

Prepared by Rob Rodrigues and Luiza Cotia The recent publication of the pharma tech-transfer guidelines (PDPs or partnership for productive developments) is bringing an interest for companies to monitor patent portfolios in Brazil. (https://patentblog.kluweriplaw.com/2024/06/25/brazil-pharma-pdps-and-challenges-for-ip-owners/). In view of this development, one of the questions arising is how third parties can influence patent examination of cases that…

Equivalents, Infringement, Injunction, Patents, UPC

(Bristows)/

The reasons for the decision are now available in the case of Ballino v UEFA and others, following an oral hearing on 3rd of June 2004 in the Hamburg local division. As was previously known, the panel comprising Presiding Judge Sabine Klepsch, Judge-rapporteur  Dr. Stefan Schilling, and legally qualified Judge Samuel Granata dismissed the application…

Case Law, Infringement, Injunction, Inventive step, Litigation, Patents, Pharma, Pharmaceutical patent

(Bristows)/

The recent rivaroxaban PI cases may have caused you to ask yourself whether the American Cynamid principles for determining whether or not to grant preliminary injunctive relief in the UK are dead or at least dying.  In this article we consider the facts of the rivaroxaban PI applications and aim to tease out some principles…

Case Law, EPC, Patents, UPC, Validity

, (Hoffmann Eitle)/ /15 Comments

Following months of speculation, EPO Board of Appeal 3.2.01 yesterday issued decision T 439/22 referring questions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal on the extent to which the description and drawings should be used in claim interpretation.   The claim feature at issue was: “in which the aerosol-forming substrate comprises a gathered sheet”. The key…

(Cross-border) jurisdiction, European Union, FRAND, Germany, Patents, SEP, Unitary Patent, United Kingdom, UPC

(Hoffmann Eitle)/ /1 Comment

Following up on Thorsten’s blog post yesterday, I report on the second day of the Oxviews 9th Intellectual Property and Competition Forum, which took place in the Justizpalast in Munich on 19 June. This impressive building deserves the name Palast (in English “Palace”), and was a fitting venue for this meeting of thought leaders in…

Amendments, Brazil, Guidelines, Patents

(RNA Law)/

Divisional applications and pre-grant oppositions may be filed until the “end of the examination”. That is the wording of the Brazilian IP Statute (Law No. 9279/96, articles 26 and 31). Looks simple enough, but in the absence of a definition in the law of what constitutes the “end of the examination”, the BRPTO has been…

European Union, Patents, TRIPS, TRIPs Agreement

(Clifford Chance)/

As most readers will be well aware, one of the hottest topics in the patent world is the broadening of the Bolar provision envisaged in the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Union code relating to medicinal products for human use, and repealing Directive 2001/83/EC and Directive…

Case Law, Injunction, Kluwer Patent Cases, Litigation, Patents, UPC

(Bristows)/

On 3 June 2024, the UPC’s Hamburg Local Division rejected a PI application against UEFA (Union des Associations Européennes de Football) and Kinexon GmBH (a technology partner) in regard to the use of video-assistance referee (VAR) technology at the upcoming European Championship in Germany.  The application for preliminary relief concerned EP 1 944 067 (EP…

Case Law, EPO Decision, Litigation, Patents, Revocation, Unitary Patent, UPC

(Bristows)/ /4 Comments

On 28 May 2024, the UPC Court of Appeal (in decision UPC_CoA_22/2024) upheld a decision of the Court of First Instance, Central Division (Paris Seat) not to stay revocation proceedings before the UPC pending parallel opposition proceedings before the EPO concerning the same patent.  Following previous Court of Appeal decisions, this non-technical appeal was adjudicated…