Archive - February 2025

On 25 February, 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a significant ruling in the case of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH v. Electrolux AB – C-330/22. This decision addresses the jurisdictional boundaries for EU courts, seemingly allowing them to handle infringement actions relating to both EU and non-EU patent rights, which could streamline litigation […]

In the run-up to the oral proceedings for G 1/23 (“Solar cell”), due to be held on 12 March 2025, we consider the potential changes in practice at the European Patent Office (EPO) in relation to the disclosures of irreproducible products. Previously, in G 1/92, a cumulative test was set in order to determine whether […]

The UK Court of Appeal (CoA) recently issued its ruling in Merck Serono v Comptroller, confirming that supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) are not available for second medical uses of pharmaceutically active products. The case concerned Merck’s SPC application for cladribine, used to treat multiple sclerosis. The UK Patent Office, in accordance with Article 3(d) of […]

In December 2024, the European Patent Office (EPO) Technical Board of Appeal issued a decision in a compelling case (T 1841/23) that involved a late intervention into accelerated appeal proceedings, with the added drama of parallel infringement proceedings at the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The parallel proceedings The appeal was filed against a decision by […]