In this series, we will review the practice of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof or BGH, herein: FCJ) on key questions of patent law such as claim construction, added subject-…
The 2015 landmark decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Huawei/ZTE established a balanced framework for licensing standard essential patents (SEPs), striking a compromise…
UPC 252/2023 NanoString v Harvard ACT_551180/2023 (UPC_CFI_252/2023)
The UPC’s Munich Central Division has recently issued its decision revoking Harvard’s EP 2794928 B1 (“the Patent”) in DE, NL, and…
It is now almost a year since the new confidentiality regime for patent disputes in Germany entered into force. Since then, confidentiality requests have become a standard procedure in German patent…
Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer is about to leave the German Patent and Trademark Office whose President she has been for 14 years. On 31 January 2023 she will enter into her well-deserved retirement. This…
This decision dealt with the practically important question of whether the claim can still be waived in the proceedings on the complaint against denial of leave to appeal, i.e. after the conclusion…
The so-called proportionality defense according to Sec. 139(1) clause 3 (hereinafter simply "proportionality defense") is one of the newest provisions of the German Patent Act. It has only been…
A nullity plaintiff who argues in the statement of claim that the subject-matter of a subordinate claim is obvious in the light of a specific prior art document, is in principle not obliged to submit…
If, in an action for a declaration of invalidity of a patent brought by several plaintiffs, the proceedings against one of the plaintiffs are interrupted pursuant to Section 240 of the Code of Civil…
The Federal Court of Justice has dealt with the important question of how the amount in dispute in patent nullity proceedings is to be determined with regard to a standard-essential patent. In…
