Case Law, Portugal

(University of Coimbra)/

The Court of Intellectual Property has exclusive jurisdiction to revoke patents. The mandatory arbitration court established by Law 62/2011 cannot declare the nullity of a pharmaceutical patent even if the issue is raised merely as a defence and with effects limited to the parties to the proceedings. A full summary of this case has been…

Case Law, United States of America

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board did not err in instituting Covered Business Method (“CBM”) review and finding several claims of a financing method patent owned by Credit Acceptance Corporation (“CAC”) to be directed to a patent-ineligible abstract idea, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled. The Board correctly rejected CAC’s…

EPC, European Union, Unitary Patent, UPC

(Hoffmann Eitle)/ /1 Comment

Another significant delay – or even more substantial – trouble seems to be ahead of the Unitary Patent system, due to today’s decision of the German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) in Karlsruhe. The Bundesverfassungsgericht has requested the German President not to sign the bills already approved by Bundestag and Bundesrat on the ratification of the Unitary…

Inventive step, Spain

(Clifford Chance)/

Although the title of this blog will sound trite to many friends accustomed to arguing patent cases before the European Patent Office, it does not sound so trite when read against the background of Spanish case law.  For years it was relatively rare for the Spanish Supreme Court to accept appeals in patent matters, which…

Brexit, European Union, Unitary Patent, UPC

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The previously announced target date for the entry into operation of the Unified Patent Court, envisaged for December 2017, cannot be maintained. This has been reported by the UPC Preparatory Committee. Today, the Committee announced that the timetable which was published last March, was ‘relying on the timely finalisation of national procedures concerning the ratification…

Enforcement, European Union, Injunction, Scope of protection, Switzerland

(MLL Legal Ltd.)/

ECC’s patent strategy not Swiss courts’ cup of tea Ethical Coffee Company (ECC) and different entities of the Nestlé group of companies have been involved in many legal disputes in various jurisdictions. The parties’ positions are normally as follows: ECC seeks access to the Nespresso coffee capsule machines for its biodegradable coffee capsules and Nestlé…

(Indirect) infringement, Netherlands, Pharma, Second Medical Use

(Brinkhof)/

Second medical use cases have been making their way through patent courts around the world. In the Novartis / Sun litigation the Hague Court of Appeal (PI decision) and District Court (interlocutory merits decision) already provided their thoughts on indirect infringement in 2015. The Court of Appeal concluded that Sun did indirectly infringe Novartis’ patent,…

(Compulsory) license, (Indirect) infringement, China, SEP

(Baker & McKenzie), (Baker & McKenzie FenXun (FTZ)), and (ZY Partners)/

On March 22, 2017, the Beijing IP Court (the “trial court”) issued a decision on a high-profile case Iwncomm v. Sony concerning infringement of a standard essential patent (SEP). This case has drawn extensive attention in China’s IP community because it is the first SEP-based injunction granted by a Chinese court, and it involves quite…

Brexit, European Union, Unitary Patent, United Kingdom, UPC

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If the period of provisional application of the Unified Patent Court Agreement starts before the summer break, it is still possible that the Unitary Patent system launches this year. European Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said this in a press conference after the meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council, 29 and 30 May 2017 in Brussels. Bienkowska…

Case Law, Injunction, Spain

(Clifford Chance)/ /1 Comment

One of the difficulties that patent owners sometimes encounter when they are planning to apply for a preliminary injunction is the dearth of evidence. A decision handed down on 23 February 2017 by Barcelona Commercial Court No. 5 may shed some light on patent owners who need additional evidence to support an application for a…