European states lack awareness of their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and have established associations such as the EPO and the UPC, without anyone accounting for guarantees with regard to democracy, the rule of law and human rights. Professor Siegfried Broß said this in…
On 24 November 2016, the Court of Appeal of Barcelona (Section 15) handed down a judgment in which it confirmed that “the interpretation of the scope of protection of a patent for the purposes of analysing its validity cannot be different from when its infringement is analysed”. The Judges also highlighted the relevance of the…
In a dispute between patent holder B/E Aerospace and C&D Zodiac that was instituted by C&D’s petition for inter partes review of B/E’s patent for saving space in airplanes, the Patent trail and Appeal Board did not err in concluding that claims 1, 3–7, 9, 10, 12–14, 16–19, 21, 22, 24–29, 31, and 33–37 of…
For the first time, the Spanish Supreme Court made far-reaching observations on key issues of the assessment of inventive step and, in particular, on a) the reformulation of the “objective technical problem” as defined in the patent’s specification, b) the limits to the combination of prior art documents and c) the professional qualifications required for…
Beamocular brought proceedings against C-Rad, alleging that Beamocular had the superior right to an Invention made by K.M. who was at the time an employee of C-Rad. The Swedish Patent and Market Court of Appeals confirmed that the primary work duties of K.M. did not constitute research activities and therefore the Invention was not a…
In this case the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) allowed a compulsory licence under a patent for a pharmaceutical active ingredient for the first time ever. The Court held that a public interest in such a licence may still exist where it concerns only a small group of patients. In particular, the interest may be…
Whilst ostensibly a standards essential patents dispute, there have now been two decisions from the English Courts in this case both on the construction of a licence agreement under Californian law. These two judgments have come before any substantive decisions on infringement or validity of the three patents asserted by Philips against Asus and HTC….
Following inter partes review of several claims of a patent directed to a trigger/seal mechanism for a beverage container, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board properly applied the broadest reasonable in construing a connection limitation disclosed in the challenged claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has decided. The Board’s construction was…
The appointment of Antonio Campinos as new president of the European Patent Organisation has had a cautious reception. Campinos was elected during a meeting of the Administrative Council of the EPO earlier this month. He will succeed the controversial president Benoit Battistelli, whose term in office has been marked by years of deep social unrest….
Plausibility has been a hot topic for a couple years, so it was no surprise the issue graced the roster for the Pharma Day series of panels at the AIPPI World Congress. Moderating the session, Juergen Meier (Vossius), explained that EPO examiners were increasingly probing a patent beyond the standard novelty and inventive step requirements…
