By Klemens Stratmann Currently, the parties involved in appeal proceedings before the EPO see a clear trend towards decisions rendered on formal grounds. If the patentee files new requests along with the statement setting out the grounds of appeal without sufficiently addressing the decision per se, he runs the risk that the appeal is held…
A recent decision at the UK Intellectual Property Office emphasises again how important it is to establish ownership of rights in inventions (particularly before the first patent application is filed) and to have documentary evidence to support this. The case concerns a dispute between the University of Warwick and one of its employees over the…
The procedure to select judges for the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will start within two months. An announcement and an online application form will be published on the UPC website at the end of February or beginning of March 2016 at the latest. The 2013 call for ‘expressions of interest’ in becoming a judge and…
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board did not err in affirming the rejection of several claims of a patent application directed to a method of enzymatic hydrolysis of soy fiber suitable as a food additive on the ground of obviousness, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has determined (In re Urbanski, January…
The Federal Court of Justice held that claim construction has absolute priority before issues of invalidity, such as the inadmissible extension or issues of patentability of the subject matter, can be discussed. The Court also reiterated that the determination of the subject matter of a patent (the invention) cannot be abandoned with the mere reason…
The Supreme Court stated that decisions dismissing a request for a stay of proceedings that are within the discretion of the court can generally not be contested according to section 192(2) Austrian Code of Civil Procedure (“ACCP”). This general rule does not apply in cases where the law imposes a mandatory stay of the proceedings….
The 23rd edition of the book The Annotated European Patent Convention has been published. The book is updated till 15 November 2015. Some important amendments in this new work: Recently issued Enlarged Board of Appeal decisions: -G1/12: correction of the identity of the appellant is allowed; -G1/13: the EPO recognises the retroactive effect of restoration…
On 30 November of 2015, the Barcelona Court of Appeal handed down a judgment which has further confirmed that a company outsourcing the production of a product to a third party is subject to the “strict” liability rule applicable to “manufacturers”, even if the actual product is manufactured by another company. This judgment has resolved…
In one of the most highly observed patent cases in Europe in 2015, Case C-170/13, Huawei vs ZTE, the Court of Justice of the European Union with judgment of 16 July 2015 provided valuable and long-awaited guidance on the antitrust/FRAND defense in cases of standard essential patents (SEPs). The decision at the same time raised…
Early January people often reflect on the past year. A good moment to give you an overview of the 10 most popular posts on the Kluwer Patent Blog in 2015. Going through the list, it is immediately clear our readers are closely following the developments and conflicts at the European Patent Office. The top two…
