Patent decision

BL number

O/032/05

Concerning rights in

EP(UK) 0460082

Hearing Officer

Mr D J Barford

Decision date

4 February 2005

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Tanktech Co. Ltd v Emil Aarestrup Sorensen

Provisions discussed

PA 1977 Section 71

Keywords

Costs, Infringement, Withdrawal

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The claimant (Tanktech Co. Ltd) withdrew an application under section 71 for a declaration of non-infringement in view of a favourable finding on a related case in a Norwegian court.

The defendant (Emil Aarestrup Sorensen) submitted that the application had been brought in bad faith with no bona fide belief of success, and that in consequence the defendant should receive an award of costs representing its actual costs rather than a sum based on the standard published scale. The claimant returned the allegation of bad faith and requested that the claimant's request for costs be dismissed.

The hearing officer decided that the defendant was entitled to an award of costs, but that the circumstances were not such as to justify departure from the scale.

Full decision O/032/05 20Kb