Patent decision

BL number

O/267/05

Concerning rights in

GB 9901474.8, PCT/GB00/00176, PCT/US00/887, GB 2363373, GB 2361909 and foreign applications

Hearing Officer

Mr R C Kennell

Decision date

30 September 2005

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Michael Wayne Crabtree v Ralph Barclay Ross

Provisions discussed

PA 1977 sections 8, 10, 12, 37

Keywords

Entitlement, Inventorship, Orders

Related Decisions

O/188/04, O/185/05

Summary

The hearing officer issued a final declaration and order, in which the parties were declared to be the joint inventors of the invention each of GB 9901474.8, PCT/GB00/00176, PCT/US00/887, GB 2363373 and GB 2361909 the insofar as the invention related to non-uniform surface profiles. He ordered that the separate proceedings initiated belatedly by Mr Ross should be terminated without any liability for costs; and that the two GB patents should proceed in joint ownership with each party having the right to grant a licence under either patent (with freedom to sub-licence) without the consent of the other and without having to account to the other.

(Note - PCT/GB00/00176 and PCT/US00/00887 are published as WO 00/43295 and WO 00/43235 respectively.)

Full decision O/267/05 133Kb