Just to mark the occasion…
Have a great weekend, everyone 🙂
Arrow strike out applications: Hit or miss?
After a decade-long hiatus, so-called Arrow declarations are now firmly back in fashion after the Court of Appeal’s judgment last year in Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics Co, Ltd v Abbvie Biotechnology Ltd & Anor [2017] EWCA Civ 1. To recap, what are now known as Arrow declarations originate from the decision in Arrow Generics Ltd…
Patent case: Borrelioseassay, Germany
The FCJ held that an in vitro assay for testing for a specific immunological binding (namely testing for antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi) using a polypeptide defined by its amino acid and a polypeptide defined by the nucleic acid sequence encoding the same, or a polypeptide encoded by segments of the nucleic acid sequence, is sufficiently…
Patent case: Bohrhilfe für Zahnimplantat, Germany
According to the FCJ, when it comes to the question of whether a particular solution was obvious to the skilled person, it is irrelevant whether a different solution was more obvious. In the present case, it was decisive that two options were available for the skilled person, both of which were suitable for the purpose…
Patent case: Actavis UK Limited v Eli Lilly, United Kingdom
Following its denial of Actavis’ claim for declarations of non-infringement in respect of Eli Lilly’s European Patent, the Court of Appeal ruled on a number of procedural matters arising from that judgment. These included the form of order for costs of the trial and the appeal; a reduction in an interim payment made by Lilly…
Patent case: Xiaomi, Spain
In injunction proceedings decided in just a few hours (likely a record in Spanish patent litigation) in the context of the 2018 Mobile World Congress, Barcelona Commercial Court no. 4 granted a preliminary injunction. However, it also allowed the infringer to lift the injunction by providing a “counter-guarantee”. Thus far a very exceptional occurrence, this…
Patent case: Sirona Dental Systems GmbH v. Institut Straumann AG, USA
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board correctly determined that claims 1-8 of a patent for a method for drilling holes for dental implants, held by Sirona Dental Systems GmbH, were unpatentable as obvious in light of prior art, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled. Further, the petitioners, Institut Straumann AG…
Tribunal ILO reverses dismissals and downgrading of SUEPO leaders
In the last week of his term as president of the European Patent Office and a day before the official opening of the new EPO building in The Netherlands, president Benoit Battistelli lost three high-profile cases at the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation (ILOAT). The tribunal said Battistelli’s decisions to dismiss SUEPO leaders…
Pharma, Pharmaceutical patent, Prior use right, Public prior use, United States of America, Validity
Supreme Court to Review “On-Sale Bar” Case
As a follow-up to our previous post “The Federal Circuit Has Its Final Say On the “On-Sale” Bar Under the AIA,” the Supreme Court has granted certiorari in the Helsinn v. Teva case, which concerns whether the America Invents Act (“AIA”) changed the longstanding “on-sale bar” rule. This means that at least four of the nine…
Russia: New remedy against an infringing generic drug
In a precedent case before the Russian Intellectual Property Court, the judges pointed out that mere registration of a generic drug long before the patent expiry may constitute a threat of infringement that is prohibited under domestic law. This position in this case may result in an extra defense against unfair registrations. On 24 April 2018,…