Searching the EPO’s website for the terms “user-friendly” and/or “user friendliness” will result in your screen being flooded by hits describing the remarkable achievements and ongoing efforts by the EPO to be a fantastic (in the UK they would probably even call it world-beating) service provider for its users. As with other noble goals such…
Mr Justice Morgan handed down judgment on 22 July 2020 ([2020] EWHC 1968 (Pat)) in relation to two patent infringement actions brought by Lufthansa which were heard together. The first infringement action was against two defendants, Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems and Safran Seats GB Ltd. The second action was against Panasonic Avionics Corporation. It is…
The Court of Appeal of the Hague held that entering into a second exclusive licence contract is possible, but the failure to end the first contract in the present case constituted unlawful behaviour and tort. Further, the Court discussed the extent to which a tort between two parties can affect the liability of third parties….
Cars and other motor vehicles operate such sophisticated communication technologies that today they operate almost like “smartphones on wheels”. This dependency on electronic communication means auto-manufacturers require access to the latest 4G and 5G standards essential to navigation and communications. Of course, these essential technologies are often patented and thus there are a range of…
Mishan (T/A Emson) v Hozelock & Ors [2020] EWCA Civ 871 Since Arnold LJ’s elevation to the Court of Appeal in 2019, he and Floyd LJ have heard about 11 cases together, spanning a mixture of areas of law, some patents cases and some not. In the majority of these cases, Floyd LJ (or a…
On 9 June 2020 Barcelona Commercial Court no. 4 issued a decision rejecting the opposition filed by a company (the “Defendant”) against a decision of 2 September 2019 from the same Court that had ordered an “ex parte” preliminary injunction preventing the Defendant from marketing pemetrexed diarginine in Spain. The background of the case can…
The UK has notified the secretariat of the European Council it withdraws its ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. This has just been announced by the UPC Preparatory Committee. Apart from depositing the withdrawal notification, there has been a parliamentary written statement in the House of Commons by Amanda Solloway (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister…
As is well known, not least since Mark Twain’s famous and unforgettable analysis, the Awful German Language is full of funny compound words (actually, according to Mark Twain, “they are not words, they are alphabetic processions”) for which no direct equivalent seems to exist in English or any other language. Schweinsgalopp is one of these…
Full support for the Unified Patent Court Agreement, complete rejection, long lists with points of concern. The German government has published the reactions to its consultation on the new draft ratification bill for the UPCA. A new ratification process was started last March, after the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) declared void the process of…
The European Commission would welcome a swift ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement by Germany. Commissioner Thierry Breton for the Internal Market has written this in answer to questions of MEP Patrick Breyer. Breyer, member of the European Parliament for the German Pirate Party, asked the European Commission on 5 May 2020 to confirm…
