Lionel Martin

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San-Ei v. Nexira on the abuse of the right to sue for infringement: an isolated case or the beginning of a disturbing case law for right holders?

the abuse of the right to sue for infringement : When it comes to infringement proceedings, it is common for the defendant to counterclaim for abuse of process, and equally common for the defendant to be dismissed. The dismissal of such claims is usually based on the grounds that the plaintiff may be mistaken about the scope of his rights and that the mere bringing of such action is not abusive per se.

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Patent opposition before the INPI: veni, vidi, now being able to tell how it could be

The opposition proceedings before the INPI came into force on 1st April 2020 and is off to a good start, with around twenty oppositions having been filed, mainly by strawmen but also by foreign companies. The oral proceedings started on 25 January 2022, and we attended and participated in the first four. Here we share our first impressions before the oral proceedings resume in mid-March. On the whole, the course of oral proceedings before the INPI is very similar to that of the European Patent Office (EPO) with, nevertheless, a notable singularity: the INPI seems to be more welcoming of late submissions.

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UPC: a forceps birth at the risk of a premature death?

In a recent article we announced the "top start" of the UPC following the announcement on the website of the EU Council of the "entry into force" of the Protocol on the provisional application of the UPC Agreement ("PAP-Protocol"). According to the EU Council, this entry into force would have taken place on 19 January 2022, the day Austria deposited its instrument of ratification of the PAP-Protocol.

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UPC: Top start... yes but how?

Signed in October 2015 by the representatives of the Member States, the PPA allows the institutional, organisational and financial provisions of the UPC Agreement to enter into a provisional application phase.  Its purpose is to allow key decisions to be taken so that the UPC can become fully operational as soon as the UPC Agreement enters into force. The provisional application phase will also be used to allow for early registration of requests to opt out of the UPC's jurisdiction

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Unified Patent Court: For badly born treaties, entry into force await the passing of the years. No review in 2021 of the corresponding German unconstitutional appeals

The German Constitutional Court has just published the list of cases it plans to deal with in 2021.  However, the two recent unconstitutionality appeals following the second German ratification law are not among these cases.  Thus, the finalization of the German ratification process is still pending to the processing of these appeals, after the German Constitutional Court asked the Federal President not to sign the ratification law .

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OP in VICO for OPPO: GO! The agreement of the parties will no longer be required to close the opposition to a European patent by a videoconference hearing.

The recent decision of November 10, 2020 of the President of the European Patent Office (EPO), takes into account the health constraints imposed by the coronavirus over time, at the moment of the rise of its second European wave. In practical terms, this decision implies that for any oral proceedings in opposition scheduled from January 4, 2020 to September 15, 2021, it will be conducted by videoconference without seeking the agreement of the parties. This decision thus systematizes the holding of oral proceedings in opposition by videoconference.

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The Opposition before the French Patent Office

Today is the day of the “launch” of the opposition procedure before the French Patent Office (“Institut National de la Propriété Intellectuelle” or “INPI”). This procedure is a new way to challenge the validity of a French patent, alongside the claim for invalidity.

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Publication of Decree No. 2020-225 of March 6, 2020 on the opposition procedure for French patents and setting of the opposition fee

The decree n°2020-225, taken for the application of the ordinance n°2020-116 which creates a right of opposition to French patents, was published in the Official Journal on March 6, 2020.

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Publication of Ordinance No. 2020-116 of 12 February 2020 creating a right of opposition to French patents

On 13 February 2020, Order No. 2020-116 was published in the Official Journal. It creates a right of opposition to the French patents before the INPI. The content of this ordinance is summarized in the report to the President of the Republic published the same day.

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Publication of Decree No. 2020-15: a risky simplification of patent proceedings.

Following the adoption of the PACTE law of May 22, 2019[1], the decree No. 2020-15 dated from January 8, 2020 and "relating to the creation of a provisional patent application and the transformation of a utility certificate application into a patent application", was published in the Official Journal on January 10, 2020.