As readers will be well aware, one of the points on which the courts of various European countries diverge, is whether or not the prosecution history of the patent at hand may be taken into account to interpret its scope of protection. For example, the UK Supreme Court, in its landmark judgment of 12 July…
In September 2021, Brazilian Congress passed a law changing the compulsory licensing landscape as a political answer to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially, Congress wanted to include new possibilities to issue compulsory license and tried to create a mandatory tech transfer provision that could severely jeopardize companies doing business in Brazil. In view…
Because the patent failed to disclose the absence of a loading dose, the no-loading-dose limitation was without adequate written description support. A divided Federal Circuit panel has reconsidered and reversed a prior decision finding that a patent owned by Novatis for administering a drug to treat relapse multiple sclerosis was not invalid for lack of…
The first of March 2023 seems to be a likely date the Unified Patent Court will open its doors. This became clear yesterday during the Unitary Patent Package Conference in Amsterdam. On the same day, the UPC Administrative Committee announced on its website that ‘the timing of the start of operations of the Court can…
The start of operations of the Unified Patent Court can reasonably be expected to occur in early 2023. This was announced on the website of the UPC today. ‘On 8 July 2022, the Administrative Committee of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) held its second meeting, which took place largely onsite in Luxembourg with the participation…
Barcelona Commercial Court no. 5 – arguably Spain’s most active patent court – rules in an infringement case concerning motorcycle helmets. The features of a claim cannot be narrowed down based on a preferred embodiment represented in one of the drawings. While probably not a watershed case, this precedent should be considered in future disputes…
The EPO has violated the right of free association by imposing restrictions on staff’s choice of members for the Appeals Committee and other statutory bodies of the EPO. The Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation ruled this in a case which was published on 6 July 2022. In another case it judged that restrictions…
In a decision dated June 29, 2022, the Cour de cassation (French Supreme Court) overturned the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal (Paris, November 24, 2020) which refused to assess acts of infringement committed abroad. The decision of the Supreme Court, which merely applies classical rules of private international law, leads one to wonder…
Michael Tappin QC (sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court) It is common in English patent litigation for patentees to make an application to amend a patent post grant and in the course of litigation pursuant to section 75 of the Patents Act 1977 – for example in order to delete invalid claims…
In a highly principled matter, the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court has ruled to dismiss Novartis’ application for a preliminary injunction against Glenmark, Zentiva, and Viatris based on the patent application EP 2 959 894 (the “894-application”). The patent application is for a pharmaceutical patent on the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The EPO Examining…
