Japan, Legislation

, (Abe, Ikubo & Katayama)/

On June 3, 2022, the Japanese government announced its Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2022. The Intellectual Property Strategic Program sets out the government’s policies and future actions for promoting the creation, protection and exploitation of intellectual property in a focused and systematic manner. It is discussed and decided every year by the Intellectual Property Strategy…

Patents, Spain, SPC

(Clifford Chance)/ /1 Comment

To date, final decisions from the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (“SPTO”) dealing with matters such as patents or supplementary protection certificates (“SPC”) may be appealed before the administrative law chamber of what are known as the Tribunales Superiores de Justicia (“High Courts of Justice”). Although these Courts are highly specialised in public law matters,…

Case Law, Chemical Engineering, EPO, Prior art

(Hoffmann Eitle)/

It has long been held that a prior art disclosure of a chemical compound would disclose this chemical compound in all grades of purity and that novelty could only be achieved if the claimed level of purity could not be reached in the prior art. However, in the current decision the view that such an…

Case Law, Equivalents, Infringement, Inventive step, Patents, Revocation, Scope of protection, United Kingdom, Validity

(Bristows)/

On 4 August 2022, the English Patents court handed down its decision in Shenzhen Carku Technology Co., Ltd v The NOCO Company, a case on battery-powered car jump starters. The decision of Mr Justice Meade is of particular interest as it addresses experts and hindsight, the third limb of the Actavis questions on the doctrine…

Brazil, Case Law, Injunction, Pharma

(RNA Law) and , (Licks Attorneys)/

The Brazilian pharmaceutical market is growing fast and is expected to become the fifth largest in the world by the next decade. While the country struggles to recover from economic downturn, the health care sector plays a key role in political speeches and the overall approach by the government. The Brazilian Constitution establishes access to…

Case Law, United States of America

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/

Expanding on its 2016 Cuozzo decision, the U.S. Supreme Court holds that the “no appeal” provision of 35 U.S.C. § 314(d) precludes judicial review of the agency’s application of Section 315(b)’s time bar. In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that Section 314(d) of the Patent Act precludes judicial review of the…

Brazil, Injunction, Legislation

, (RNA Law) and (Licks Attorneys)/

On July 14, a Brazilian Congressman Mr. Alexis Fonteyne presented a Patent Bill proposing key amendments to the Patent Statute (Law No. 9,279 of 1996). The proposal represents an important development for the IP community, especially when it comes to patent term compensation, which may become statutory if the bill is approved (click here for an English…

Case Law, EPC, EPO, Pharma, Second Medical Use, Turkey

, (Gün + Partners)/ /1 Comment

As per the EPC definition, a substance or composition that is already known to have been used in a “first medical use” may still be patentable for any second or further use, provided that said use is novel and inventive. Even though the first medical use was the subject of patent protection within the EPC…

(Indirect) infringement, Case Law, Equivalents, Infringement, Inventive step, Patents, Scope of protection, United Kingdom

(Bristows)/

Introduction In a ruling by Hacon HHJ on 4 July 2022, [here] the English Patents Court has invalidated three patents belonging to J. C. Bamford (JCB) while finding a fourth valid and infringed by Manitou UK Ltd and its parent company Manitou BF (Manitou).  The judgment followed a six-day trial in November last year. Parallel…