FPC Review
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Case Law of the Swiss Federal Patent Court. Swiss and European Patent Attorney, keeping a close eye on the Swiss Federal Patent Court (FPC), the European Patent Office (EPO) and IP matters in general.
FPC Review
1w ago
Reading time: 2 minutes
It’s interesting these days to follow how the UPC approaches certain procedural things. According to a recent order of the Central Division (Section Munich) a party was allowed to use slides as demonstratives at a main hearing. From a Swiss perspective, this is what we are used to have in main hearings at the FPC, too. Such slides may not introduce any new facts or substance to the case. (This goes without saying, I believe.)
Notably, the Judge Rapporteur required that the number of the slides be communicated to the court at least six (6) weeks before the hearing date ..read more
FPC Review
2w ago
The official Annual Report 2023 of the FPC has been published earlier today (12 March 2024). It comes along with an Executive Summary as follows:
In the reporting year, the total number of incoming cases increased to 31 (previous year 24). There was a significant increase in the number of ordinary proceedings (20, previous year 13), while the number of summary proceedings was unchanged (11, previous year 11).
Of the 21 ordinary proceedings handled by the Court, four were settled and 14 were adjudicated. Three cases were dismissed for irrelevance. Of the 11 summary proceedings handled in the ..read more
FPC Review
2M ago
AROPI
Hurry up, it is still possible to sign up for the 11th edition of the joint AROPI – VESPA seminar
La jurisprudence suisse en matière de brevets en 2023
VESPA
on Thursday, 8 February 2024 at the Alpha-Palmiers hotel, rue du Petit-Chêne 34, 1003 Lausanne.
Ralph Schlosser and Christophe Saam will present the legal and technical aspects of the decisions rendered by the Federal Patent Court (and the Supreme Court, obviously) in 2023, followed by a discussion.
Participation is free of charge for members of AROPI or VESPA.
/MW
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PROGRAM
18:15 hrs
Opening
18:30 hrs
Welcome / Introduction ..read more
FPC Review
4M ago
Reading time: 4 minutes
DISCLOSURE NOTICE: Hepp Wenger Ryffel is involved in this matter on behalf of Bioeq.
Case No. O2022_004 | Hearing of 21 November 2023 | ‘Ranibizumab PFS’
Bioeq logo
This is litigation between Bioeq and Novartis about (in)validity of five patents relating to Novartis’ Lucentis® (ranibizumab) in a pre-filled syringe (PFS; see Compendium), for direct application into the eye of a patient. Ranibizumab is designed to block the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that can build up in the eye. This may help reduce unhealthy swelling, leaking, and growth of blood vessel ..read more
FPC Review
5M ago
Reading time: 6 minutes
Case No. 4A_273/2023 (SC) | Judgment of 25 September 2023
on appeal against
Case No. O2021_004/5 (FPC) | Judgment of 20 April 2023 | ‘Deferasirox’
DISCLOSURE NOTICE: Hepp Wenger Ryffel is involved in this matter on behalf of Mepha.
deferasirox
This case is about deferasirox, an iron chelating agent. It is mainly used to reduce iron overload in patients who are receiving long-term blood transfusions in the treatment of chronic anemias.
The FPC has been busy with deferasirox since early 2021 in litigation between Novartis and Mepha. The crucial feature in terms of ..read more
FPC Review
5M ago
Reading time: 4 minutes
I have reported several times about the substantial revision of the Swiss Patent Act that is currently in the making; see e.g. this Blog here.
Back in parliament, the Science, Education and Culture Committee (SECC) of the Council of States has now requested some changes; see the ‘Fahne’ below, p. 22-23 (available online here). The proposed changes are apparently meant to address two issues that have been raised earlier e.g. by Lara Dorigo, Alexandra Bühlmann and Thomas Legler; see here.
But, unfortunately, the issues are anything but fixed.
Suspensive effect of appeals ..read more
FPC Review
5M ago
Est'd reading time: 8 mins
Case No. 02020_014 | Judgment of 2 October 2023 | ‘iMessage’
Apple logo
Rome wasn’t built in a day. But here it is, finally: The judgment in the case that was the longest pending in the last Annual Report of the FPC. It is an infringement case between Pear and Apple about a feature of Apple’s iMessage service that began in 2020; see this Blog here for some background information. Both patents in suit have lapsed already; EP 1 838 074 B1 and EP 1 208 687 B1. It’s all about damages for past infringement, if any.
iMessage icon
Putting it simple, the patents relate ..read more
FPC Review
6M ago
Reading time: 4 minutes
Case Nos. O2021_008, O2021_016 | Hearing of 31 May 2023 | ‘Escape II’
This litigation between Greubel Forsey and Purnell is about a very special kind of wrist watch. In a nutshell, it’s about a timepiece movement with not just one but at least two tourbillons, each having a cage carrying an escapement and a balance. The trick is that the cages are driven at least indirectly in rotation by a differential gearing (31); see independent claim 1 of the patent in suit (EP 1 706 796 B1). If you are into mechanical watches, you will get the gist from this illustration:
EP 1 70 ..read more
FPC Review
6M ago
Just in case you missed the LinkedIn Live session of Wed, 27 September 2023, here’s a recording:
This episode covers the following:
H. Lüdi + Co. ./. Wobatech
O2021_018: Judgment of 31 August 2023
C&E Fein, Robert Bosch ./. Coram Tools
O2022_002: Hearing of 14 September 2023
VESPA evening seminar: Case-law of the FPC
14 September 2023 in Zurich, w Tobias Bremi
Election of Judges at the FPC
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The post ?? Patent Litigation ..read more
FPC Review
6M ago
Reading time: 2 minutes
DISCLOSURE NOTICE: Hepp Wenger Ryffel is involved in this matter on behalf of the plaintiff.
Case No. O2021_018 | Judgment of 31 August 2023 | ‘Laboratory ceiling’
Lüdi logo
This infringement case relates to laboratory ceilings for routing supply lines for certain media and air in laboratories. The patent in suit is EP 1 934 414 B1 of H. Lüdi + Co.
Wobatech logo
The judgment holds that the attacked embodiment of Wobatech does not read on EP 414 because the air supply duct is not substantially flush with the underside of the support frame in the [first] plane of the su ..read more