France: Valorom v. Urba Waste & Vauche, Court of First Instance of Paris, RG 12/05288, 2 May 2014

When does prior private use give a party the right to continue using the invention? Any person may claim personal possession on the ground of Article L. 613-7 of the French Intellectual Property Code providing that said person proves possession of the invention prior to the filing date or priority date of the patent. In a decision of 2 May 2014, the Paris Court of First Instance rejected a prior personal possession claim considering that the implementation plans of the invention are not sufficient evidence to demonstrate the required prior possession.

A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.