The Biogen test revisited
When is a product claim in a patent insufficient? That is the core question in the judgement of April 10 by the UK Court of Appeal in Generics (UK) Limited v Lundbeck A/S in an appeal against the High Court…
Intellectual Property Expert Group
Intellectual Property Expert Group
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Dutch court refers Round Up patent dispute to ECJ
In a long standing battle between Monsanto, Argentina and importers of soymeal, the District Court The Hague gave its (interim) judgment on March 19, 2008, referring the case to the ECJ for their interpretation of articles 8 and 9 of…
Is there an After-Life for Pan European Injunctions?
I am sure you remember the good old days when Dutch patent practitioners introduced the “pan European injunctions”. Based on the idea that a European patent granted in Munich according to uniform (and unified) principles of patentability should enjoy pan-European…
Europe’s Patent Demise
You are a European institution, the European Central Bank, and you seek the invalidation of what has been granted as a valid right by another European institution, the European Patent Office (EPO). The last weeks we got a taste of…
How justified are differences in IP duration?
Ever thought about the reasons why copyright protégés have been able to extend the duration of the copyright law in many countries now to 70 years after the death of the author while patents are lagging behind? Why can’t get…
New chapter in UK saga of patenting computer programs
There has been another development in the continuing saga of the UK’s interpretation of what is and is not patentable subject matter in relation to computer programs.In Symbian’s Patent Application (Patents Court, 18 March 2008), Patten J overturned a decision…
IP-Com extends its patent reach towards HTC in Germany
In our blog: “Do Not Blame Patent Trolls” of February 2, we touched upon a new player in the patent arena in Europe, IP-Com in Germany. Since then the debate has heated up whether NPEs (Non Practicing Entities) have reached…
Qualcomm vs. Nokia UK judgement
Today, the UK court (Mr. Justice Floyd) rendered its decision in the Qualcomm vs Nokia case. The case in the UK is slightly different than similar fights that take place in Netherlands and Germany in that Qualcomm is suing Nokia…
IP Valuation – A Pandora’s Box
Two European trademark blogs, MarkenBlog and Class 46 referred to a publication in Germany’s business newspaper Handelsblatt on the effect of the proposed new “Bilanzrichtlinien modernisierungs gesetz” (Accounting Directives Modernizations Law). According to the two blogs this introduces new accounting…
Is Asia surpassing Europe in innovation by 2015?
WIPO just published the statistics on patent filings 2007. “East Asia closes in on Europe in patent rankings”, writes FT this morning. At the same time Europe published its European Innovation Scoreboard 2007. On page 49 of that EU report…
European Research Discussion, IP input urgently needed
The European Research Area (ERA) was created at the EU Council, held in Lisbon in 2000 in the context of the Lisbon Strategy, also known as the Lisbon Agenda or Lisbon Process. It’s aim is (or, better, was) to make…
The Patenting Paradox
Tomorrow, Monday February 11, Arnaud Gasnier, receives his PhD at Technical University Delft (TU Delft) for a study on efficient patent management (“The Patenting Paradox“) . Gasnier’s study shows that despite a dramatic increase in the number of patents filed…
Do Not Blame Patent Trolls
In an earlier blog, we wondered “Will 2008 bring the same troll trend in Europe?”. Well it’s no surprise that it does. A yet relatively unknown NPE (Non Practicing Entity, or otherwise called “patent troll”) an IP exploitation company called…
France ratifies the London Agreement
France has formally communicated its ratification of the London Agreement. This at last clears the way for the Agreement to come into force, which will happen on 1 May 2008. The consequent savings on translation costs will have a significant…
DRM dead?
“IP 360” published an article, headed “DRM Technology For Music May Be Dead: Experts”, saying: “The recording industry pushed digital rights management, or DRM, technology to protect its copyrighted music from piracy and maintain revenue streams, but under pressure from…
Gemstar EPG patent strategy, sue first then talk
Our prediction on December 8, 2007 what would happen after the acquisition of Gemstar by Macrovision proved right (see “Macrovision acquires Gemstar, a more aggressive IP policy ahead”. Last week Gemstar sued Virgin Media for patent infringement before a UK…
EU Commission raid on Pharma companies
Yesterday, EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes launched an inquiry into the workings of the pharmaceutical industry, especially into patent-dispute settlements between companies including Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson, which companies offices were raided yesterday by Commission officials. The…
New president Patent Division Düsseldorf Appeal Court
Judge Kühnen, the wel known patent judge in the reginal District court of Düsseldorf for patent litigation, has recently been appointed as the new chairman of the Patent Division at the Düsseldorf Appeal Court (Oberlandesgericht). He succeeds Judge Steinacker, who…