The crucial decision of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on Spain’s objections to the Unitary Patent Package will be delivered on 5 May 2015. The date was published on the CJEU’s website earlier this week. The decision could remove what is widely seen as the last major stumbling block for the creation of the…
Probir J Mehta (Acting Assistant US Trade Representative for IP and Innovation) refers to IP being a critical part of the trade agenda and America’s future. The trans-pacific partnership is a landmark trade deal representing a next-generation agreement. For example, seeking criminal sanctions against breaches of trade secrets. The transatlantic trade and investment partnership between…
Lord Hoffman (former Court of Appeal judge and presently at Queen Mary University) spoke about what can be done to harmonise the law. He said that the governments of most jurisdictions accept that judges have some choice in how the law is developed. There is then a range of views of how much regard should…
The 23rd Annual Fordham Intellectual Property Law and Policy Conference 2015 has kicked off with opening remarks from Hugh Hansen from Fordham University School of Law, New York, reminding everyone to learn, debate and have fun! David J Kappos has started the panel debate on the state of IP in China with a story about…
I am happy to announce the release of my book US Patent Law for European Patent Professionals. An understanding of US patent law within the context of the US legal system has become increasingly important for patent professionals in Europe in recent decades. Europe and the US are closely linked economic zones, and many inventions…
This time we take a look at various decisions that share one thing in common — piercing the corporate veil doctrine. Even if these rulings are not purely patent law cases, they will definitely have influence on forthcoming litigations. First, let us look at the recent Finnish Supreme Court case 2015:17, in which the defendant…
Although this is a patent law blog a recently published decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in an appeal against a dismissed request for a preliminary injunction in the copyright sector is worth being discussed in more detail here. It will make life harder also for petitioners who see their hopes dashed before the…
With its judgment of March 5, 2015 (I-2 U 16/14), the Higher Regional Court (HRC) Dusseldorf reversed the first-instance decision and has now come to same conclusion as did the High Court of Justice for England and Wales (here) by holding that pemetrexed dipotassium does not fall within the equivalent scope of protection of EP1…
Goods placed in transit proceedings do not infringe a patent in the transit country. It is not relevant whether the goods were placed in so-called “T1” external transit proceedings or in “T2” transit proceedings where goods are declared to be released for free circulation on the market of the European Union and are forwarded without…
Based on method claims, German Patent Law does not only grant the patentee an exclusive right to exercise the method on the German territory, but also a monopoly to offer, bring into circulation or to use in Germany a “fruit” that is the immediate result of the patented method (Sec. 9 (3) German Patent Act)….
