Scope of protection

Institut Pasteur is the holder of European patent No. 0 178 978, which relates to “Cloned DNA sequences, hybridizable with genomic RNA of lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV)”. Institut Pasteur…

What happens in Germany’s bifurcated patent litigation system, if – during pending infringements proceedings – the nullity court declares the patent partly invalid? The patentee can amend its…

Once again, the German Federal Supreme Court has underlined the primacy of the patent claim over the patent's description. The technical problem to be solved by the invention is to be established by…

In this blog I report about how the Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) has recently eliminated some potential for conflicting decisions in Germany's bifurcated patent litigation system. The separation of…

The last year has kept some Spanish Courts busy with a debate that already caught the attention of English Courts at the beginning of the XX century, that is, whether "omnibus" claims are enforceable…

In a decision of 7 September 2010, the Dutch Patent Office (NL Octrooicentrum) on appeal confirmed its earlier decision to not grant a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) for the medicinal…

The torrent of UK cases concerning applications for supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) shows no sign of abating. Following the reference from the Court of Appeal in June to the CJEU in…

The European Court of Justice held that Article 9 of the Biotech Directive (98/44/EC) does not confer patent protection to genetic information that does not (anymore) perform its function for which…

Council Regulation 469/2009 (the “SPC Regulation”) governs the grant of supplementary protection certificates in the EU. Core to its interpretation are Articles 1, 3, 4 and 5. Most pertinently,…