Category: News from Abroad

By Charlotte Teall — Background Rule 140 EPC does not explicitly relate to the correction of patents, but to the correction of EPO decisions.  However, until now, the European Patent Office (EPO) has allowed patentees to correct the text of a Patent after grant using Rule 140 EPC. Recent decision (G1/10) The Enlarged Board of…

By Vicky Longshaw and Gary Cox — In a significant win for Myriad, and their licensee Genetic Technologies Ltd, the Australian Federal Court on Friday upheld Myriad's method patents used in cancer screening for mutations in the BRCA1 gene.  This decision will provide much-needed certainty to gene patent holders in Australia. The applicants in the matter,…

By Martin O'Brien — On Friday, the Federal Court of Australia handed down its decision in the case of Cancer Voices Australia & Anor v Myriad Genetics Inc & Ors.  The presiding judge, Justice Nicholas, identified the issue in the case as one "of considerable importance," framing the question to be decided as whether a…

EPO Board of Appeal Decision T1839/11 By Christopher Bond — Background The patent Following grant of a patent to Novozymes in November 2009, the patent was asserted in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.  Danisco filed an opposition in March 2010.  An opposition division revoked the patent in July 2011 and an EPO board…

By Jon Gowshall — Over the past few years the UK patents courts have moved closer to the approach of the European Patent Office (EPO) on inventive step.  In particular, the UK courts have started to acknowledge the importance of expectation of success when dealing with obviousness.  A recent decision (MedImmune Limited v Novatris Pharmaceuticals…

A unitary patent package covering 25 member states of the EU (Italy & Spain are not currently taking part) may finally be realised after approval of a new EU patent regime by the EU parliament.  In three separate voting sessions relating to a European unitary patent, a language regime and a unified patent court, Members…

By Mark Richardson — Last week the pan-European Intellectual Property Summit (IP Summit) was held in Brussels and the first morning of the summit saw a number of discussions regarding the unitary patent and unified patent court.  A common theme that seemed to crop up from anyone representing the official EU position was that the…

By Jenny Donald — Two UK applications were rejected by a UK examiner on the ground that they constituted the 'use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes', which is excluded from patentability.  The applications met the other requirements for patentability. A final decision on these applications was suspended until the referred questions on…

Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel? By Jenny Donald — It is clear from an emerging practice of the European Patent Office (EPO) that they were not widely impressed by the controversial Brüstle decision issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The EPO has adapted its practice to…

When a generic pharmaceutical company seeks approval for a generic version of a reference product, it must necessarily perform certain tests on its product.  If the product in question is patented, then obtaining the product (e.g., through importation or manufacture) in order to carry out those tests is technically an act of patent infringement. Historically,…