A short but nevertheless interesting judgment was handed down last week on the different roles that technical experts on the one hand and scientific advisers on the other have to play in proceedings in the English Patents Court.   The decision of Mellor J followed a case management conference in an entitlement dispute between Dr Vanessa…

by Bernward Zollner for rospatt osten pross In a recent decision of 10 January 2017 (BGH X ZR 17/13) concerning a “Restitutionsklage” against a final patent infringement judgement of the Appeal Court Düsseldorf the German “Bundesgerichtshof” has broadened the scope of the doctrine which the court has developed under the heading “Crimp-Werkzeug”. This doctrine was…

In its decision of 7 August 2014 (docket no. I-2 U 91/13 – ‘Garage Roller Door’), the Higher Regional Court Dusseldorf granted a non-using patent co-owner a right to compensation from the other co-owner that uses the patent and profits from this use. The parties are competitors in the field of manufacturing and selling garage…

A patent can be re-assigned to the legitimate rights holder based on a claim of entitlement under Article 118 Italian IP Code, even when the patented subject matter differs from the invention made by the legitimate rights holder, when such differences do not involve an inventive step. A summary of this case will be posted…

In a decision of 9 February 2012, the Court of Appeal of Milan decided a case concerning the ownership of the rights over an invention allegedly made in the framework of a work-made-for-hire relationship. The case is interesting as Italian law does not explicitly regulate the case of inventions made for hire. Articles 64 and…

The right to an unpatented invention does not entitle to its exclusive use; it ceases to exist if the invention is made public without patent protection. The right to an unpatented invention encompasses no more than (i) the right to file a patent application and (ii) the right to claim the patent, in case a…