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Injunctions while you wait?
In bringing an action for patent infringement, a patent holder will almost inevitably seek an injunction against the alleged infringer. Although the English courts will usually grant such an injunction on finding a patent to be...
Pharmaceutical patents case clarifies first authorisation
Pharmaceutical company Neurim appealed a decision to turn down its application for a Supplementary Protection Certificate. The higher court dismissed the appeal, and its judgment clarifies the European definition of first...
Coaxial Cable Connectors
On 14 April 2010, the United States International Trade Commission ("ITC" or "Commission") issued a decision in Certain Coaxial Cable Connectors and Components Thereof and Products Containing Same ,...
Enlarged Board response on patentability doesn't compute
There should be no change to the status quo on the boundaries of patentability of computer-implemented inventions (CII). That was the somewhat disappointing response of the European Patent Office (EPO) Enlarged Board of...
AstraZeneca Increases Liability of Patent Holders
Case T-321/05, AstraZeneca v European Commission Case COMP/A.37.507/F3 - AstraZeneca 15 June 2005 On 1 July 2010 the EU court handed down its judgment in the long running Losec (omeprazole) saga. While reducing the...
Software Patents under Attack in New Zealand
For some time it has been widely acknowledged that New Zealand's dated Patents Act 1953 has required modernisation to keep pace with changes in technology and patent laws worldwide. It has therefore come as no surprise...
Sustained-release - an obvious next step in drug development
Effective management of high cholesterol levels requires that patients take their medication regularly and in line with the drug regimen. However, for many patients, compliance is an issue, because they have to take...
Show me the money!
Historically, there have been very few reported UK patent cases on compensation, largely because most disputes are settled before a formal enquiry. And there have been none since the EU Directive on the Enforcement of...
Software Patents: the state of the union
Recent decisions by the US Supreme Court in Bilski v Kappos and by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) in G 3/08 have declared "business as usual" when it comes to assessing the...
Henry Vacuum Cleaner Cleans Up In Injunction Against Replica Product
In Numatic International Limited v Qualtex UK Limited [1] , the claimant Numatic successfully secured an injunction preventing the defendant Qualtex from placing on the market a replica of the famous "Henry" vacuum...
Back to the drawing board in bouquet battle
Interflora v Marks & Spencer England & Wales High Court 29 April 2010 Interflora and Marks & Spencer redraft AdWords ECJ questions in the light of Google France In July 2009, following judgment in May 2009,...
Avoiding "death by 1,000 cuts"
Several new routes to protect a trademark were introduced via the Trade Marks Directive (the Directive). These were set out in Article 5(2) of the Directive (89/104, now replaced by 2008/95/EC), but at the time seemed largely...
My Dad's better than your Dad
"My Dad's better than your Dad" In establishing a product's USP, marketers will always look to ways to say that "my product is better because...". Matthew Dick and Dev Kumar of Bristows, review...
