(Cross-border) jurisdiction, (Indirect) infringement, China, Competition, Enforcement, FRAND, Germany, Infringement, Injunction, Litigation, Patents, SEP, United Kingdom, United States of America

(Bristows)/ /1 Comment

This short post reports on one of the Panel Sessions at this year’s AIPPI Congress which took place virtually for the second year in a row. The tenth panel session of the AIPPI Online World Congress 2021 addressed global FRAND determinations by national courts and out-of-jurisdiction judgments in the form of anti-suit and anti-anti-suit injunctions….

Case Law, EPC, Infringement, Pharma, United Kingdom

(Bristows)/

On 8 October 2021, His Honour Judge Hacon (sitting as a Judge of the High Court) handed down his decision in an action brought by Royalty Pharma Collection Trust (“Royalty Pharma”) for approximately €23 million in royalty payments from Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (“Boehringer”) (Royalty Pharma Collection Trust v Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH [2021] EWHC 2692 (Pat))….

European Union, Slovenia, Unitary Patent, UPC

/ /27 Comments

Slovenia has deposited its instrument of ratification for the Protocol on the Provisional Application of Unified Patent Court Agreement and the UPCA itself. According to a message of the UPC Preparatory Committee, this brings “the Unified Patent Court one step closer to its launch”. “Thanks to the Slovenian ratification and following the recent ratification of the…

Case Law, Infringement, United States of America

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US)/

The Wako federal district court abused its discretion in fining that The Western District of Texas was a more convenient form that the Northern District of California. The federal district court in Waco, Texas abused its discretion in denying Juniper Networks’ motion to transfer six patent infringement actions filed by a Texas-based patent assertion entity…

Case Law, Netherlands

(Hoffmann Eitle)/

In a new chapter of the ongoing saga of Sisvel’s 4G patents against (mainly Chinese) infringers, the present interlocutory decision shows that the procedural attitude of a defendant (in the present case Wiko) may be very important and can influence the court’s decision. Case date: 21 April 2021 Case number: C/09/583227 / HA ZA 19-1162 Court: District…

Litigation, Patents, Procedure, Switzerland

(MLL Legal Ltd.) and (Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd. (MLL))/ /5 Comments

In a recent decision, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court – Switzerland’s highest court also in patent matters – dealt with the question of whether the assessment of patent claims is fundamentally a question of law or a question of fact. This distinction is relevant under Swiss law for example because in Switzerland, after the conclusion…

Japan, Legislation

, (Abe, Ikubo & Katayama)/

On 14 September 2021, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) announced that most of the amendments to the Patent Act and other intellectual property laws, which were promulgated on 21 May 2021, will come into force on 1 April 2022.  The amendments cover various matters such as the introduction of online oral hearings at the trial…

Austria, European Union, Germany, Slovenia, Unitary Patent, UPC

/ /21 Comments

Germany and Slovenia have ratified the Protocol on the Provisional Application (PPA) of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. According to a report of the UPC Preparatory Committee, the German government deposited the instrument of ratification for the PPA on 27 September 2021. It wrote: “This is a decisive step on the way to the establishment…

AI, ownership, Patents, United Kingdom

, (Bristows)/ /10 Comments

Can an artificial intelligence (“AI”) machine be an inventor and can the machine’s owner apply for a patent? These were two of the key questions which the Court of Appeal grappled with in Thaler v Comptroller General of Patents [2021] EWCA Civ 1374. The Court, by a 2-1 majority, answered both these questions, as well…