Although patent litigation in Europe is fragmented, businesses have been able to cope and a unitary system may not be strictly necessary for the patent system to function in Europe. However, the new…
On 22 July 2016, IP Australia approved a patent specification involving computer programming in poker machines in Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited [2016] APO 49.
IP Australia's decision…
by Rachel Mumby
Those readers who are unfamiliar with the excessively optimistic outlook of Mr Wilkins Micawber in Charles Dicken’s novel David Copperfield, would be forgiven for having had to look…
by Nicholas Round
On 19 April 2016 Birss J handed down a short but notable judgment in the matter of EMGS v PGS. Following a three-week trial in March 2016 the parties had decided to settle the…
Europe is preparing for the launch of the new Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). A provisional phase for the UPC is expected to start later this year, with a view to a full start of…
There has been some confusion in Germany as to whether exhibiting products and services on a trade show qualifies as an infringing act or not. Most prominently, two decisions of the German Federal…
The creation of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) means that there will finally be a judiciary to control the very strong executive power of the European patent system, the European Patent Office, Jens…
...well not really, but the German Federal Court of Justice has recently issued a decision (Kreuzgestänge, X ZR 103/13) that may expose Germany's "Bifurcation System" to even more questions and…
Patent trolls, also called "non-practicing entities" ("NPE"), a rather more elegant name, have become a serious threat to the patent system, particularly in the IT arena in the United States ("U.S.")…
