Patent decision

BL number

O/046/11

Concerning rights in

GB2410760

Hearing Officer

Mr A C Howard

Decision date

23 February 2011

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Pilot Drilling Control Ltd and Smith International Inc

Provisions discussed

Patents Act 1977 Section 118(1); Patents Rules 2007, Rules 53 and 84

Keywords

Confidentiality

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The main proceedings relate to a proprietorship dispute. This was a preliminary decision to determine a request by the claimants for the statement and all subsequent papers filed in the proceedings to be kept confidential on the grounds that the reputations of both parties would be damaged if knowledge of the proceedings were to become public. Although the defendants withdrew their initial opposition to the request, they filed no arguments in support of it. The Hearing Officer considered that the usual rule is that proceedings should be public, and a departure from this principle could be justified only in exceptional circumstances. In the present case insufficient evidence of the harm that could result from publicity had been demonstrated. In respect of one document however, redaction of the version available to the public was allowed in the light of specific arguments about the commercial sensitivity of information contained in the respective text.

Full decision O/046/11 55Kb