Case Law, United States of America

, (Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP)/

The U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow parties to obtain discovery regarding any matter that is relevant to a party’s claim or defense. One important caveat to this general principle is that attorney-client communications and work product are privileged and protected from discovery. Generally speaking, when a party divulges privileged information to a third…

Patents

(Clifford Chance)/ /2 Comments

On 17 February 2022, the Administrative Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court handed down a very interesting judgment setting out legal doctrine on the legal value of expert opinions from the Administration in two different scenarios: on the one hand, when they are issued in judicial proceedings between third parties and, on the other, when…

(Cross-border) jurisdiction, France, FRAND, Injunction, SEP

(Dhenne Avocats)/

I won’t go into the numerous litigations involving OPPO around the world, nor will I comment on the decisions rendered by the German Courts since this summer. What interests me is the unprecedented attitude of OPPO in these proceedings – which withdrew its products from the German market even before any injunction was enforced –,…

Case Law, Spain, Trade secrets

(Clifford Chance)/

The Spanish Supreme Court rules in a patent ownership and trade secret dispute where a company had filed a patent application which named as inventor the husband of the company’s founder, who had previously led an R&D project funded by a competitor. The Court sets a high standard for ownership claims and, at the same…

Case Law, Equivalents, Infringement, Inventive step, Patents, United Kingdom, Validity

(Bristows)/

On 24 August 2022, Nicholas Caddick QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court) handed down his decision in Vernacare Limited v Moulded Fibre Products Limited [2022] EWHC 2197 (IPEC), a case on open topped washbowls made from moulded paper pulp, such as those used in hospitals, care homes…

Case Law, FRAND, SEP, United Kingdom

(City, University of London) and (National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata)/

Recently, the decisions of courts in the United Kingdom (UK) in Unwired Planet v Huawei Technologies (Unwired Planet) and Optis Cellular Technology v Apple (which followed the decision of the UK Supreme Court in Unwired Planet) have given rise to significant debate over the appropriate forum for litigation of disputes in relation to standard essential…

(Cross-border) jurisdiction, Covid-19, France, Litigation, Patents, Pharmaceutical patent

(Dhenne Avocats)/ /7 Comments

The news was announced last week: Moderna is suing Pfizer for infringement of two of its patents related to Covid-19 vaccines. These highly targeted actions are likely to spread to many other countries: here is a brief overview of the case and its potential French perspective. In a press release dated August 26, 2022, Moderna…

European Union, Unitary Patent, UPC

/ /12 Comments

The Unified Patent Court has announced a ‘major milestone’ in the implementation of the Case Management System (CMS). Starting mid or end of September, the CMS login process will be based on a strong authentication scheme. According to a report on the UPC’s website, ‘an electronic IDentification certificate (compliant with EU Regulation No. 910/2014, also…

Case Law, Infringement, Injunction, Netherlands

(Hoffmann Eitle)/

Longi and Hanwha have fought several (preliminary) court cases, which eventually resulted in a (cross-border) injunction. An ancillary claim that was approved was a recall of infringing products. Longi challenged on appeal the decision of the provisions judge that recall would also extend to solar panels that were already installed, but the judgment was upheld…