Patent decision

BL number
O/344/08
Concerning rights in
GB2337684B
Hearing Officer
Mr J Elbro
Decision date
2 January 2009
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
Strix Ltd and Otter Controls Ltd
Provisions discussed
Section 27, Rule 83
Keywords
Amendment, Striking out
Related Decisions
None

Summary

The opponent opposed the patentee’s request under section 27 of the Patents Act 1977 for amendment of the patent, arguing, inter alia, that the patentee had delayed excessively before bringing the request to amend. The patentee sought the striking out of this ground following the amendment to the Patents Act which required the Comptroller to have regard to corresponding practice under the European Patent Convention. The hearing officer, following the reasoning in Markem v Zipher [2008] EWHC 1379 (Pat), held that the conduct of the patentee was no longer grounds for refusing amendment under section 27. As a result, he struck out that part of the opponent’s statement of case.

Full decision O/344/08 PDF document41Kb