It is totally unacceptable to strip the competencies of the third seat of the central division of the Unified Patent Court now that it will not go to London but most likely to Milan. Lorenzo Montanari, executive director of the Property Rights Alliance (PRA), has said this in an interview with Kluwer IP Law. Last…
In the next chapter in the FRAND-related battle between Nokia and Oppo, Nokia tried to obtain an injunction in relation to Oppo’s sales through Oleading and Reflection. The provisions judge, however, found this case to be too complex, both because of the patented subject-matter and the FRAND issues, to be decided in the present preliminary…
The Unified Patent Court is struggling once more with technical issues. In the meantime, the registrar has stated he cannot give legal advice on the UPC’s opt-out procedure. Two days ago, the court announced that technical maintenance was needed due to technical difficulties, and that the CMS would not be available for three days –…
On 21 March 2023, Meade J gave a bumper judgment in the revocation action brought by Gilead in respect of two of NuCana’s patents from the same family (EP (UK) 2 955 190 and EP (UK) 3 904 365, the “Patents”), which relate to nucleoside analogues. Filling 102 pages, the judgment raises a number of…
EU institutions have recently paid attention to Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and how the SEPs framework could be improved to encourage innovation while also promoting competition and satisfying consumers’ interests. In its 2020 Intellectual Property Action Plan on IP, for example, the Commission stressed the need to set the right conditions for a transparent, predictable,…
The concept of plausibility has caused great controversy in European patent law in recent years. It was hoped that the decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the EPO in G 2/21 would bring clarity. Since the referral questions by Board 3.3.02 were very clear and seemed to present reasonable alternatives from which…
The European Patent Office received 193 460 applications last year, an increase of 2.5% compared to 2021 and a new record. Digital communication (+11.2% over 2021) was the field with the highest number of patent applications, followed closely by medical technology (+1.0%) and computer technology (+1.8%). These are some numbers from the EPO’s Patent Index 2022, which was published today. The…
The Brazilian Patent Statute (Federal Law #9,279/96) establishes that foreign applicants must appoint and maintain a representative in Brazil for each patent application filed with the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO). Only through a patent agent—be it a person or a legal entity—can a foreign application file and prosecute an application. In November 2020,…
On 16 March 2023, the High Court of England and Wales handed down its judgment following the FRAND trial in InterDigital v Lenovo. This is the second judgment containing a substantive FRAND determination issued by the English Courts and the UK remains one of the few jurisdictions in which courts can and have determined global…
The Registrar of the Unified Patent Court has provided information on most commonly identified issues regarding the sunrise functionalities of the Court’s CMS. According to the Registrar, former chairman of the UPC’s preparatory committee Alexander Ramsay, three weeks into the sunrise period approximately 1500 applications to register as a representative before the Court have been…
