EPC, Spain

(Clifford Chance)/ /1 Comment

Article 118 of the EPC (entitled “Unity of the European patent application or European patent”) states that: “[…] the text of the application or patent shall be uniform for all designated Contracting States, unless this Convention provides otherwise.” Like other Articles such as Article 2.2, 14.3, 43.1, 130.1 or 148.1, Article 118 follows the logic…

United States of America

/

Since the scope of an amended patent claim was not substantially similar to the scope of the original claim, the patentee was not entitled to infringement damages for the period prior to the amendment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled (R+L Carriers, Inc. v. Qualcomm, Inc., September 17, 2015, O’Malley,…

European Union, Unitary Patent, UPC

/

‘Europe can become a more attractive forum for patent enforcement than the US’, according to Wouter Pors, partner of Bird & Bird. Kluwer IP Law interviewed him about the new draft proposal for the Rules on the European Patent Litigation Certificate and other appropriate qualifications. ‘We shouldn’t just focus on the minimum requirements.’ Pors expects the…

Spain

(Clifford Chance)/ /2 Comments

On 3 June 2015, the High Court of Justice (“Tribunal Superior de Justicia”) of Madrid handed down a judgment which has alerted everyone of the need to have robust systems in place to make sure that a deadline for paying renewal fees is not missed. The facts of the case may be briefly summarised as…

EPO

(Véron & Associés)/

Since 2011, it has been clear in France that the possibility for patent owners to request before the French patent office a limitation of the claims of a granted patent, offered by article L. 613 24 of the French Intellectual Property Code (“IPC”) since 1 January 2009, applies not only to the claims of French patents but also…

United States of America

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/

A district court’s decision denying awards of attorney fees incurred by several mobile device and digital camera makers in successfully defending against patent infringement claims by Honeywell International Inc. has been vacated and remanded by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The district court was directed to reconsider whether the case was…

(Indirect) infringement, Germany

(Rospatt Osten Pross)/

In its decision Digitalblock (digital block) the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf) has discussed the question whether “sleeping” features of a device can cause patent infringement (judgement of 19 February 2015, docket No. I-15 U 39/14). The case was about set-top boxes for receiving free-to-air and encrypted television signals. The patent concerned a…